Pot Roast and Beef Gravy in a Slow Cooker

Here is an easy and hearty meal to put on the table for your family

any day of the week! 

Just start with your traditional root vegetables,

carrots, onions and potatoes

chopped and layered into the slow cooker. 

Some celery can also be added for good measure. 

Then, a 3# Chuck Roast was placed on top and seasoned with 

1 tbsp of Steak Seasoning

and sprinkled with some Crushed Rosemary, to taste. 

Some people would perhaps advise to pre-sear the roast in a pan on the stove to seal in the moisture. 

I have found that it isn't worth the hassle.  

I just top the roast with 1-2 tbsp of olive oil

which helps to keep the roast from getting too dry. 

Finally one cup of beef broth was added.

Set it AND forget it!

This roast was left on low for 8 hours and 

I came home to an amazing aroma throughout the house 

and this delectable roast ready for dinner. 

Now, for the gravy!

Depending on how much gravy your family likes, 

feel free to adjust the recipe accordingly. 

I happen to have some gravy lovers of my own, 

who don't get gravy very often, 

so I splurged and made 2 cups.  

(Crazy, I know, right!)

After removing the roast from the slow cooker, 

I just poured the juice into the measuring cup and into the sauce pan. 

Now, making gravy is pretty easy, 

as long as you remember one IMPORTANT step. 

Pre-hydrate the corn starch! 

Unmodified corn starch is NOT hot water soluble, 

which means if you add it directly to the hot broth, 

it won't dissolve and there will be all of these little balls (or eyes) 

in your gravy. 

I'm pretty sure you don't want that! 

So, for 2 cups of broth, 

2 tbsp of corn starch are needed. 

This should be whisked up in a small about of cool/room temperature water to start with,

then added to the beef broth.

You can thank me later!

Bring the broth to a boil, 

which is what activates the starch,

or more correctly, 

denatures the starch in order to absorb the water. 

Simmer for just a few minutes, 

while stirring. 

Then, it will continue to thicken as it cools.  

Here is the roast on the platter, just before serving. 

And, here it is with the gravy! 

The gravy could probably use some salt, 

but since my guys will add salt to everything anyway, 

I didn't bother…

RECIPE:

Cook Time: 5 hours on high or 8 hours on low

Serves: at least 6, (thankfully we finally had some leftovers!)

Ingredients:

2 cups Carrots

1 medium Onion- chopped

4 Potatoes - cubed

3 Stalks of Celery

1 tbsp Steak Seasoning

Crushed Rosemary - to taste

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 cup of Beef Broth

2 tbsp Corn Starch

Directions:

• Chop vegetables and layer into slow cooker. 
• Place roast on top of vegetables. 
• Season with Steak Seasoning and Crushed Rosemary, rub in with olive oil. 
• Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 5 hours. 
• Measure out 2 cups of broth, add to sauce pan for gravy. 
• Whisk 2 tbsp of corn starch into water, then add to broth. 
• Bring to a boil and simmer for less than 5 minutes until begins to thicken. 
• Top roast with gravy and serve. 

Salisbury Steaks and Brown Gravy

Does anyone else have fond childhood memories of Salisbury steak TV dinners…

made in aluminum trays, actually baked in the oven?

We didn't care that they were terrible for us, we were too enamored by the novelty of them!

This was a go-to meal when there was a babysitter coming over.  

We often got to eat them, where else but in front of the TV!  On a TV tray!

Oh, life was so simple back then, when that was all it took to keep kids happy.

It has probably been 25 years since I had my last Salisbury steak, 

but again, the request came from the man of our house and I do my best to oblige, 

as he is a good sport with me and some of my crazy meal ideas.

So, made this a few weeks ago and I'd say that everyone was pleasantly surprised, including me.  

And now, my kids expect gravy more often too!

This paired fabulously with Creamy Smashed Potatoes and Cauliflower, 

which I will be making again soon too!  

Got started with 3# of ground beef, which was plenty for dinner and leftovers, which are always welcome in our house, so feel free to halve the recipe if that suits your family better. 

To that added 3 eggs, 3 tbsp worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper and 1 cup tomato sauce. 

Combined all that by hand, because it is easiest that way.  

Then added 1 cup oatmeal, to help bind up the meat and all of those flavors. 

Formed the ground beef mixture into 10-12 patties, almost like meatloaf burgers. 

Cooked them in a pan with canola oil for about 5 minutes per side over medium heat. 

They don't need to be cooked all of the way through because they will finish off in the gravy.  

As the patties were cooked, they were set aside, 

into the microwave to stay warm until the rest were finished.

While the patties were cooking, the gravy was started with 

2 cups of beef broth and 6 tbsp corn starch.  

Once the patties were all cooked, 

one medium chopped onion was added to the pan to get a head start on browning. 

Then, 2 more cups of broth were added to the pan along with 3/4 cup of tomato puree

for the start of the gravy. 

Mix it all together and bring it to a boil.  

Finally, add the broth and corn starch mixture. 

While stirring constantly, the gravy forms, quite quickly.  

The patties were added back to the gravy to finish cooking...

for just another 5 minutes or so.  

They were placed on a platter and served!  

Great comfort food for this dreary fall weather. 

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

3# of ground beef

3 eggs

3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 cup tomato sauce

1 cup oatmeal

Canola oil

4 cups of beef broth - divided

6 tbsp corn starch

1 medium chopped onion

3/4 cup tomato puree

Directions:

• Combine well the eggs, Worcestershire, salt, pepper and tomato sauce with the ground beef. 
• Then, add the oatmeal as the binder. (Ha, did that make you laugh?)
• Form the meat mixture into patties and brown over medium heat in a pan with canola oil for about 5 minutes on each side.  Setting aside the done patties as you go.  
• While the patties are cooking, add 6 tbsp of corn starch with 2 cup of beef broth and whisk.  
• Once the patties are done, add one chopped onion to the pan for pre-browning.  
• Then, 2 cups of beef broth and 3/4 cup of tomato puree are stirred in as the start of the gravy. 
• Once boiling, add the broth and corn starch mixture. 
• Stir constantly while gravy forms, reduce heat to medium. 
• Add the patties back to the gravy for a final 5-10 minutes to finish them off before serving.