Pot Roast....

Today I made Pot Roast...Many times I make ordinary food and never blog it...like Tuna Casserole or Mac and Cheese or good ol' Tomato Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches...Pot Roast falls into that category...so as I was putting it together, to pop in the oven, before heading on a shopping trip to Seattle, I was remembering my Dad (who himself was a great chef) say it was the best Pot Roast he has ever eaten...So I started taking pictures, decided you would most assuredly want to know about this....this is mostly ordinary, except for one secret ingredient....a envelope of powdered brown gravy mix...yep, that is it! I learned to use this little trick many years ago and it is great! Let's get this party started!

First it is important to buy the right cut of beef...buy a chuck roast...hands down the best meat for pot roast....did you know that the steak they sell now 'flat iron' is just a chuck steak, with a new name? any way, season the meat, and flour, then brown on both sides, in a heavy pan.....

mix your packet of gravy mix with 2 cups of water......the packet says one cup of water but use two because..you will lose some as it cooks.........

put a chopped up onion and about 3 cloves of garlic in your pan......

and pour on your gravy liquid......

place in the oven at 225 degrees for about 4-5 hours.....time go to church or shopping in Seattle  in my case.....(please avert your eyes and don't look at the dirty oven, thank you)

I went to lunch at Beecher's...Beecher's is a cheese shop that also sells lunch items....Their mac and cheese was featured as one of Oprah's favorite things.....so that is what I ordered....

while you are eating lunch you can watch them make cheese.....

this is Beecher's lunch counter.....now just across the street is.....

Pike Place Market.....I did need to buy a Christmas present there, but once there you have to take a few minutes and look at your favorite things.....

check out these mushrooms....I have never heard of them before...they look so woodsy...they would look great next to a yule log.....

love to look at the fruits and vegetables....

The fish area is my favorite to just stand with my camera and watch the guys that work with people....

they tease and are so sassy! They wrote a book called 'fish'...it is all about playing at work...or being happy at work no matter what kind of work it is....check it out sometime it is inspirational....

my favorite...Dungeness crab!

then over to Delaurenti......

just a quick walk through to look at the stuff....the cakes....

the meat counter...

I love this picture of the lady looking at the cheese......

Check out all good looking Carmel apples!

then I walked up the hill to the shopping area...to get some real shopping done...

they are all decked out for Christmas......

the Carousel at Westlake Center....

The Christmas tree.....

and my favorite the Macy's star....Now it is is time to head back home and get back to finishing dinner and wrapping presents......

The house smells wonderful and now just lift the lid and the pot roast is perfect! it is tender and plenty of juice.....excuse the splattered pan....

put in the potatoes and carrots and add a little pepper on top and put the lid back on...raise the oven temperature to 375 and close the door and cook for another hour or so....

yes it is finished...if you like.....

you can take out the meat and potatoes, place on a platter and thicken the juice for gravy....it might not need thickening...might be perfect or maybe just a little thickening..you will have to be the judge on that....

perfect......

Cheers to Happy  !!