Sunday Roast Beef
Sundays were special times in my childhood. Many times Sunday dinners were at my grandparent’s 80 acre farm. Everyone brought dishes to eat. There were usually three meats on the table – roast, country ham, and fried chicken. All the usual “fixins” (side dishes and condiments) – green beans, mashed potatoes, casseroles, biscuits, gravies for each meat, fresh vegetables such as cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, corn on the cob. Desserts were usually pies or cobblers and sometimes a cake if someone had a birthday. The coffee pot was always percolating and there was plenty of sweet tea and sometimes cold lemonade to go around. If we didn’t make it out to my grandparents’ house, there was a smaller feast at home. It was usually a roast that my mother put in the oven before we left for church. If the preacher went on too long with his orating, she would get really nervous and fuss all the way home. Good times.
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 4-pound boneless beef shoulder pot roast OR boneless beef chuck roast OR a beef brisket (trim the fat)
- 1 tablespoon Crisco or 3 tbsp. bacon fat
- ½ cup beef stock
- 4 medium stalks celery, cut into fourths
- 3 medium potatoes, cut into 1½ inch pieces
- 3 large onions, thinly sliced
- 6 garlic cloves, chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine the flour, herbs, paprika, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
- Rub over the pot roast.
- Heat shortening in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until melted and brown the meat on all sides. This will take about 7 minutes.
- Drain the fat from the oven; add the beef stock and deglaze the pan by heating to boiling and scraping up all the yummy bits on the bottom of the oven.
- Put the roast back in the Dutch oven, cover it with the sliced onions and garlic, put the cover on the Dutch oven, and bake for 1 hour.
- Remove the cover, turn the roast over and add the remaining ingredients. If it needs more stock, add another ¼ cup of stock or water if needed. Continue to cook uncovered, for another 30 minutes.
- Stir the vegetables and onions around, replace the cover and continue to cook for 1 hour more. You will want to check the beef along the way and when it is fork tender and the veggies are tender it is ready.
- Remove the meat and vegetables from the oven. Serve with gravy.