Drunken Pot Roast

The crock pot is a perfect instrument for a chick like me who doesn't actually eat meat, but still wants to make it (and make it well) on the rare occasion for carnivorous loved ones. For the most part, you just plop the hunk of meat in, leave it for several hours, and out comes something everyone proclaims is delicious.

And sure enough, this recipe is no exception. It's a nice, unique spin on your run of the mill pot roast. And it's even got a memorable name. A little weird, a little inappropriate perhaps, but nonetheless.

(Just to delve a little further for a sec into the me-being-a-vegetarian thing, it feels very weird to be posting a huge hunk of meat on this blog of mine. But... people love this recipe, and so I wanted to share. Just maybe do me a favor and consider eating a meatless meal some other time this week if you make this roast. It'll make me feel better!)

So anyway, about that hunk o' meat! It's perfect with mashed potatoes - especially because you can make a flavorful gravy out of the sauce it cooked in. Oh, and it's got a ton, a ton of garlic. But don't worry - the garlic really mellows during the slow cooking process.

I cooked up 8 pounds worth of this stuff for my family's Thanksgiving Part Deux dinner, and it was well-loved and well-noshed. Did I mention my guy gives it two grunts up? High praise.

And so, here's the recipe!

Drunken Pot Roast

Serves 6ish

Adapted from the terrific Drunken Garlic Pot Roast recipe posted by Sue L. on Recipezaar.com

Ingredients:

• 1 3-pound pot roast (I tend to buy top round)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions (or 1 XL will do)
• 4 tablespoons minced garlic (yup, about 25 cloves)
• 1 cup (8 ounces) lager beer (I use either Stella or Henry's Blonde - either are great)
• 1/2 cup beef or veggie broth (I make and freeze my own veggie broth so I just throw a chunk of that in)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard (I sometimes use Trader Joe's Garlic Mustard Aioli sauce - very good!)
• Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
• Fresh thyme springs (optional)
• Cornstarch (about 3 tablespoons) and an equal amount of cold water

Instructions:

1. Trim any huge amounts of fat off of the roast.
2. Rub some kosher salt and black pepper into the entire outside of the roast. You can use a spoon or, yeah, your hands.
3. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil on medium-high heat.
4. Place the pot roast in the skillet, and brown it on every side.
   
   
   
5. Remove the roast and place it on a plate.
6. Lower the heat to medium, and add one more tablespoon of vegetable oil and add the broth, stirring and scraping up all the bits left from the meat.
7. Throw on the onions and saute until the onions begin to get translucent - roughly about 10 minutes.
8. Add the garlic, and cook for a couple of minutes more. Here I'm going to confess my dirty little secret. Sometimes, especially when a recipe calls for a ton of garlic, and it doesn't really matter if it's super fresh, and I just don't have the time to do all the mincing, sometimes I use the pre-minced garlic.
   
   
   
   Have I lost any shred of respect I may have earned previously? I probably should have just kept that to myself. (But seriously, you can get the huge container at Costco, it keeps forever, and sometimes it's a true godsend for super busy cooks).
9. In a small bowl, stir together the beer, vinegar, brown sugar, and mustard. Don't worry if it doesn't mix together very well - it won't matter after this next step.
   
   
   
10. Add the beer mixture to the onions and garlic, and heat through, stirring well.
    
    
    
11. Pour the onion mixture into the crock pot, and place the pot roast on top. Lay the thyme sprigs on top of the roast, if using.
    
    
    
12. Cook on low for 8 hours.
13. Make the gravy! After the 8 hours is up, ladle most of the juice into a saucepan, and turn the burner to medium.
14. Mix 2 - 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with an equal amount of cold water (this dissolves the cornstarch).
15. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan with the drippings.
    
    
    
16. Stir frequently until the gravy boils and begins to thicken. Remove from heat.
17. Remove thyme sprigs from the top of the roast (so people won't find any little thyme branches).
18. Place the roast on a platter, and surround it with the onions.
19. Let the roast rest for about 10 minutes, then slice and serve with gravy (and, hopefully, mashed potatoes!)

Enjoy!
 

Or, you know, sit back and watch your guests enjoy. :)