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Roast Recipes
Leslie's Pot Roast Lori's Pot Roast Lorraine's Pot Roast

Dear Reader,

Wendy Fesmire faithfully reads at the book club every day and she's got a problem. She's got an empty Dutch oven that's waiting for a pot roast.

"Dear Suzanne, I got a Dutch oven a couple years ago and I have always wanted to cook a pot roast in it, but I don't have a recipe and cooking is not second nature to me. Do you have recipe? I'll need complete instructions in front of me to make it."--Wendy

(Suzanne replies) Wendy, I do have a scrumptious pot roast recipe for a Dutch oven, but it has a lot of steps and I think they might frighten you away from trying it. So how about if we start with a great Beef Stew recipe? It's easy to make and you'll get compliments--it tastes great!

My Beef Stew recipe is at http://tinyurl.com/ys5xbs and below are recipes that readers sent in to help Wendy out.

I have a great pot roast recipe that my kids (even my extremely finicky one) all like. Make it with rolls on the side.--Leslie Marsh

2 tbsp Olive or veg oil
1 chuck roast, 2 1/2 - 3 lbs, frozen or thawed
1/3 c prepared horseradish - not horseradish sauce or mayonnaise
1/3 c Dijon mustard
1 med white onion, chopped in large cubes
1/2 bag baby carrots
2 potatoes, cubed
1 turnip or parsnip, cubed
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 c burgundy or other strong red wine

Pour oil in Dutch oven and spread over bottom. Put the chuck roast in.
Mix the horseradish and mustard, and spread over the roast, covering the top and sides. Put the veggies all around and on top of the roast. Pour the diced tomatoes and burgundy over all. Cover, and place in oven at 350 degrees for 2 1/2 hours if frozen, 1 1/2 hours if thawed. Put in a little extra wine or water if it is frozen. During the last 15 minutes, you can bake your roll dough, and everything will be ready all together. Baste the rolls with butter when they come out.

This works well in the crock pot, too. I can put this in, made with a frozen chuck roast, and turn on my oven to cook later in the day. The frozen meat keeps it cool all day as it is thawing, then my oven timers turn it on and off for cooking. (I cook it for 1 1/2 hours if I do that.) How I love that timer!

Here's an easy, basic, delicious pot roast recipe for Wendy and this is one way we sneak veggies into our granddaughters' dinners!--Lori

Brown a 3 lb. beef rump, bottom round, or shoulder roast in a little olive oil in a Dutch oven. Season meat with salt and pepper. Add 3 carrots, 3 stalks of celery, and 1 large onion, all cut into chunks. Add 2 cups of water and 2 bay leaves. Put in the oven for 3 hours at 325 degrees. Remove meat to slice. Remove and discard bay leaves. Place liquid and cooked vegetables in the blender and blend till smooth. Thicken with flour and water made into a paste if necessary. The vegetables thicken the gravy. Slice the meat and layer in a big dish with the gravy. Serve or refrigerate and reheat the next day. Set some gravy aside for the noodles or mashed potatoes.

Reading your Dear Reader today prompted me to write and help Wendy find recipes for her dutch oven. I have a very simple recipe for pot roast that I would like to share with her. This is the time of year (I live in the midwest) when the weather starts to cool down and my family looks for those good, old fashioned comfort foods!--Lorraine Bigelow

2 lb. chuck arm roast

2 Tablespoons oil

1 pkg. Lipton onion soup mix (dry)

1/4 cup water

4 potatoes, peeled and quartered

6 carrots, cut in ½ in rounds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat oil in Dutch oven on top of the stove.

Brown roast on all sides.

Sprinkle onion soup mix over top of the roast.

Pour water around the roast but not on the soup mix.

Cover and bake in oven for about 1 hour.

After an hour, add potatoes and carrots all around the roast.

Baste with juices in the Dutch oven.

Cover and bake 45-60 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are tender.

Serve with rolls and butter.