Thursday, January 17, 2008

A Really Good Roast Recipe

Anyone who knows me knows I'm not meat girl. I don't like handling raw meat; I don't know how to cook red meat especially. So, when I find and cook a red meat recipe that actually turns out well, I feel like I need to tell the world: "Hey, Look what I found!" This is for all those out there who are not especially skilled at preparing red meat.

From Cooking Light:
Autumn Cranberry Beef Stew
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 (3 pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2 inch cubes (I just threw the entire roast in the pan because, like I said, I hate handling raw meat)
Cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup fat free, less sodium beef broth
2 bay leaves
1 (12 oz) Guinness Stout
1 (10 oz) package frozen pearl onions, thawed (I left these out)
1 (8 oz.) package button mushrooms, quarted (I used sliced)
1/4 c. water
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce
8 cups egg noodles

Combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl; sprinkle over beef. Heat a Dutch oven over med-high heat. Coat pan wtih cooking spray. Add beef to pan; cook 6 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Add chopped onion, broth, bay leaves, and stout; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 2 (or more) hours until beef is tender, stirring occasionally.

Combine 1/4 c. water and flour in a small bowl. Add flour mixture and cranberry sauce to pan. Cook 5 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Serve with noodles.
*I thought the broth was a bit thin, so took some of it out, mixed it with flour to thicken it up and poured it back into the pot.

My husband's comment after eating it: "This is the best roast I've ever had in my entire life!"
This is quite a compliment from my husband who I would say is rather picky when it comes to his food.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This sounds delicious and oh so perfect for a snowy evening. I might just have to try it tonight in place of Plan A meal (salmon, which Sarah says stinks up the whole house for 3 days and she doesn't want to smell like it on care group night).

Anonymous said...

Sounds very good and different to anything I've ever done. Josh will like it if Guinness is involved! :)

Briana Almengor said...

Zo..a little tip for stinky salmon (I love salmon but, like Sarah, hate the smell):
Place a bowl of white vinegar out on the counter before you start cooking; it neutralizes the smell. It works for broccoli and other food smells as well, I think.