Cranberry Sauce

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INGREDIENTS:

• 12 oz cranberries
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup brown sugar
• Optional: pinch of cinnamon and/or nutmeg

PREPARATION:

1. Over medium heat dissolve sugar in orange juice and bring to a boil. 
2. Add cranberries and cook until they burst. Continue boiling for a few minutes and remove from heat. Sauce will thicken upon standing. 

Perfect Family Favorite Pot Roast

Every now and then, usually late Saturday evening, I get a craving for pot roast on Sunday. The traditional come-home-after-church-and-the-house-smells-amazing pot roast. Ironically though, even though the house smelled amazing usually the pot roasts I had growing up were a little...dry? As for Don, he really didn't have pot roast growing up at all. I've tried various slow cooker recipes that have been hit and miss. Flavors were usually good but the meat wasn't usually consistent. Sometimes moist, and other times dry and tough- really dry and tough. Which is weird because it had just spent hours simmering in a bunch of liquid, right?

A couple of weeks ago the craving hit and I was determined to have the pot roast that I was envisioning - tender and moist. Something that lived up to expectations, ha! I did a search, looked over quite a few recipes, and landed on 2 that were incredibly similar from sources I trusted and that I've cooked from before, Pioneer Woman and A Bountiful Kitchen. 

So this recipe is a combination/adaptation of those 2 recipes, Perfect Pot Roast and Family Favorite Pot Roast. And, it truly is that, a Perfect Family Favorite Pot Roast. This 100% lived up to expectations, it was AMAZING! And it was one of those recipes where after tasting how it turned out I was actually 'proud' of the meal. Like, check this out, I've just created this from scratch and it tastes friggin' fantastic! :)  So, many thanks to both Pioneer Woman and A Bountiful Kitchen - I now know how to cook a wonderful pot roast! 

*Just a note about the pot roast - we've usually been getting a roast between 3-3.5  lbs for 2 of us and we usually have leftovers for 3-4 meals. For a larger roast the only thing that really changes is the amount of time you cook it for, you wouldn't necessarily need to add more of everything else, but you could if you wanted to. Also, I would highly recommend getting this from Costco, it was more affordable and they sell them in 2 separate portions so I can make this recipe twice :)

INGREDIENTS:

• Chuck Roast - 3 - 3½ lbs (Try and find one with nice marbling) 
• 1 large yellow onion, cut into wedges - ends up being about 2 cups precooked
• 3 cups of carrots, cut into 2" chunks -  we usually peel our carrots, but you could also leave them unpeeled and scrub them
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-3 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire 
• 2-3 cups beef broth
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Optional: fresh rosemary & fresh thyme (I tried this with dry and didn't love it because I couldn't just pull it out after. We ended up scraping quite a bit of it off and I was worried about it tasting strangely in the gravy we made from the drippings.)

PREPARATION:

1. Heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat and add olive oil. 
2. When oil is hot add onion wedges. Brown on one side, turn, then add carrots and minced garlic. Continue cooking until carrots are lightly browned making sure you don't burn the garlic. Remove all veggies and set aside
3. Preheat the oven to 275° F and move around racks if needed to accommodate pot/dutch oven
4. Salt and pepper roast generously. Add more oil to pan if needed and then sear the roast on all sides. About 30-60 sec per side and remove roast from pan.
5. Using about 1/2 up to a cup of broth, deglaze pot scraping up browned bits.
6. Remove pot from heat and add roast back. Add onions and carrots to the sides around roast. 
7. Sprinkle Worcestershire and balsamic on top of roast evenly. 
8. Pour remaining broth around the edges over the onions and carrots until it reaches about half way up the sides of the roast. Try not to pour the broth on top of the roast so you don't wash away seasonings and sauces. 
9. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil on top over the everything. 
10. Cover tightly with foil or lid.
11. Bake in oven for about 3½ hours. If time allows, let sit in turned off oven for an hour longer after cooking to tenderize. We usually use that time to make our mashed potatoes! :) 

FOR GRAVY:

1. Use equal portions butter and flour to start a roux. I usually get about 3-4 cups of liquid, after separating out the fat, based on the pan we use so I usually use 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup of flour. Also depending on how salty your drippings are you may want to use plain beef broth to work your way up to 3-4 cups liquid instead of using all drippings. 
2. Add half the onions to drippings and blend in blender until smooth. You definitely don't have to do this, but if you have the time and a blender, it makes for some pretty amazing gravy!   
3. Melt butter in small pot or pan. Add flour ans whisk constantly until incorporated. Keep cooking over medium heat until mixture changes to golden color.
4. Slowly whisk in liquids and continue to stir until mixture is smooth. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened.
5. Salt and pepper to taste. 

To troubleshoot your gravy Our Best Bites has a great recipe (that's where I grabbed my roux ratios from!) and some great tips and pictures to help you out.