Pot Roast and Popovers

I love Sunday dinners. I love spending the day in the kitchen cooking and I really love the wonderful smells that come from long-simmering dishes like pot roast. As much as I'm excited for the bounty of produce that heralds the start of spring and summer, I'm going to miss meals like this one.


I served the pot roast with mashed potatoes, green beans and the carrots, onion and mushrooms from the sauce. I also made these popovers that are basically the same as the Yorkshire Pudding I make at Christmas and were just as delicious:


I love how they puff up and get golden brown. SP and I fought over these.

Pot Roast
Adapted from Vintage Victuals and Food Network

1 tablespoon cooking oil
1/4 cup flour
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1 1/2 - 2 lb. chuck roast
4-6 carrots, peeled and cut into 3″ pieces
1 large onion, cut into wedges
1 cup mushrooms, stems removed and sliced in half
1 large can crushed tomatoes
16 ounces beef broth
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, mix the flour, salt and pepper on a plate. Dry the roast and then coat all sides in the flour mixture. Brown the roast on all sides in the hot oil.

Pour in the tomatoes and the beef broth. Scatter the vegetables, thyme and bay leaves around the pot roast and season with salt and pepper. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Braise for about 3 hours, basting every 30 minutes with the pan juices, until the beef is fork tender.

Slice the pot roast and arrange on platter surrounded by the vegetables. Serve with the pot juices.

Saturday Dinner at C&T's

On Saturday we went over to C&T's house for dinner. Just look at this fabulous standing rib roast being carved into luscious pieces:

T always puts out a huge feast and this time was no exception. Here's the salad:


... with lettuce, avocado, tomato, cucumber and carrots. In keeping with an English theme, T made pillowy-soft, light-as-air popovers:


I had at least two and could have eaten more had my stomach not rebelled. T also steamed green beans then cooked them with tons of garlic:


Boiled red potatoes:


...and roasted root vegetables (I think there's beets, carrots, parsnips, squash and red onion in there):


... silky gravy made from the roast drippings:


Here's the spread all laid out on the counter:


Another close-up of the popovers:


The side dishes:


And my plate, with a little bit of everything:


My salad didn't fit on my regular plate:


Even though dinner was fantastic, it was the dessert that had everyone swooning. T made sticky toffee pudding:


... and served it with fresh whipped cream. For some reason I didn't take a photo of my plate, but trust me when I say it was a beautiful sight. We also had two kinds of cheeses (courtesy of the S&B, the other guests). This was a stilton topped with cherries marinated in balsamic vinegar:


I'm not usually a fan of blue cheeses but this was outstanding. Nice and sharp. The other cheese was a mix of blue and cheddar cheeses. S served this with sliced pears. Yum!


Thanks again, C&T, for a fantastic dinner. You guys sure know how to throw a dinner party!