My Number One Fan’s Pot Roast
with Mushroom Gravy
My Number One Fan has been making this style of Pot Roast since she was 14 years old.
Strangely, this is the oldest recipe we have for Pot Roast, but is the one recipe that was never actually posted to the 2009 version of Kitchen Tapestry, an egregious error I am correcting in this new version of my online recipe cookbook. Perhaps it never made it to print because My Number One Fan is always the one to make this dish, which she’s been doing since she was 14 years old. She makes it from memory; it’s never been written down until now. We enjoy it frequently, perhaps 2-3 times a year and it it always delicious, especially served over rice. It epitomizes the true definition of Comfort Food: a familiar, nostalgic, satisfying, often indulgent dish that evokes warmth, emotional comfort, and a sense of home.
My Number One Fan recalls that her mother used to make the dish with a similar recipe, but it needed lots more gravy. So, My Number One Fan took over the culinary duty of preparing this delicious pot roast recipe, amending her ingredients accordingly.
My Number One Fan's Pot Roast with Mushroom Gravy
Yield: 6-8
My Number One Fan has been making this style of Pot Roast since she was 14 years old.
Ingredients
- 2-3 lb chuck roast
- 2 tsp Morton's Nature's Seasons Seasoning Blend
- 3 14.5-oz cans cream of Mushroom Soup (like, Campbell's)
- 2 cans beef broth (like, Swanson's)
- 2 tbsp Kitchen Bouquet
- Non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam)
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.
- Use a Dutch oven or large casserole dish with a tight fitting domed lid, and coat it well with the non-stick cooking spray.
- Following the natural breaks in the roast, separate it into 3-4 chunks.
- Season the meat with the Nature's Seasoning.
- Place the roast in the cooking vessel and place the mushroom soup on top of and around the meat. Use a spatula to evenly spread it around.
- Add the beef broth and Kitchen Bouquet, and stir well.
- Cover and put in the oven with the lid slightly askew to allow some steam to evaporate. This will keep the gravy from bubbling over and also allow the gravy to reduce a little. Cook 3 hours.
- At 3 hours, remove the roast from the oven, and turn each piece of beef over. The gravy should be suitably reduced at this point; put the lid on tightly and return the roast to the oven for another 3 hours.
- Serve in pasta or cream soup bowls over rice. The meat should be tender enough to pull apart with a fork.
Notes
- Use the original Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup. Do not use Golden Mushroom Soup.
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Mini-Meatloaf Bell Pepper Rings
Yield: 4
A delightful combination of meatloaf and stuffed bell peppers in individually served portions, as cute as they are delicious.
Ingredients
- 1 lb 85/15 ground sirloin
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 bell peppers, any colors
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs (like, Progresso)
- 2 tbsp thyme
- 2 tbsp rubbed sage
- 4 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 4 tbsp ketchup (like, Heinz No Sugar Added)
- 1 14.4-oz can petite diced tomatoes (like, Hunt's or Red Gold)
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 tbsp dried basil
- non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam)
- 1/8 tsp fine sea salt
- 10-12 grinds freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Using a saucepan large enough to submerge the two bell peppers, fill with salted water and bring to a boil.
- Slice the tops and bottoms off of the two bell peppers. Discard the stems, but retain the part of the bell pepper that was removed.
- Core the peppers of seeds and membrane, and place them in the boiling water for 3 minutes.
- Remove the peppers from the heat, drain off the water and flush the sauce pan with cold tap water until the peppers are cool to the touch. Remove the peppers from the pot and pat dry.
- Cut each bell pepper in half width-wise so you have four rings, each about 1-1/2" - 2" in height.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Take a broiling pan, the kind that has an insert with a grate and a bottom pan to catch the grease, and spray lightly with non-stick spray.
- In the meantime, finely dice the tops and bottoms of the peppers you previously removed, and add to the yellow onion. Over medium high heat, sauté them in the olive oil until they begin to caramelize, about 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic at the last minute and sauté for just a few seconds before removing from the heat. Put the peppers and onions in a large mixing bowl and allow to cool a bit.
- Adding in layers as you go (it will make for easier mixing), crumble the ground beef over the peppers and onions.
- Add the beaten egg, cream, ketchup, Worcestershire Sauce, thyme and sage. Season liberally with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the mix.
- Using wet hands (which will keep the mixture from sticking to you), thoroughly combine all the ingredients. Once mixed, it should easily adhere together into the shape of four even portions about the size of a baseball. If the mixture is too dry, add a bit more cream; or if it is too loose, add a few more bread crumbs.
- Place the four pepper rings on your broiling pan, and fill each with even portions of the meat mixture. The mixture will overfill each ring, which is okay. Just mound it up and then using a spatula, flatten the tops of each mound of meatloaf.
- Thoroughly drain the liquid from the can of petite diced tomatoes. In another mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes with one cup of the shredded cheddar cheese and the dried basil.
- Again using your hands, mound and press the tomato and cheese mixture onto the top of each stuffed pepper ring. Finish each stuffed pepper ring with 1/4 cup more shredded cheddar cheese.
- Bake for 1 hour and serve immediately.
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