They are the flannel sheets and down comforters of the food scene, warming our hearts, easing our minds, soothing our souls. They are good and cheap and adaptable, marrying well with an old Bordeaux or a cold glass of milk, whatever fits your budget and appetite.
Pot roasts and potatoes: Those intensely flavored, slowly simmered meals of fork-tender meat, caramelized onions and rich, fragrant pan juices meld perfectly with our favorite tubers-mashed, boiled or roasted.
Never mind that beef consumption has dropped 11 percent in the last decade amid concern about cholesterol.
In times of stress, such comfort foods can be healthful-provided we eat them in moderation-because they make us feel better. That`s the word from some psychologists.
”Certain foods are very comforting, and pot roast is one of them,” said Suzanne Carr, clinical psychologist at the Gwinnett Psychological Center in Georgia.
”There is a strong association between food and nurturing, food and mothering, that feeling of being cared for and loved unconditionally, of being safe and secure.”
Since the days of America`s early settlers, pot roasts have graced family dining room tables. According to John Mariani in ”The Dictionary of American Food & Drink,” the cooking method was a way to tenderize tough, sinewy cuts of beef.
They first were called Yankee pot roasts, while English, Dutch and French traders prepared the roasts using venison or bear, not beef, Phillip Stephen Schultz wrote in ”America the Beautiful Cookbook.” The early roasts were cooked over coals and later placed in earthenware in brick ovens.
Although the retail cuts of beef have improved greatly, pot roast still is prepared with less tender, less costly cuts of beef, mostly brisket, top or bottom round or chuck roast. But just because they`re cheap doesn`t mean they don`t have flavor. In fact, when braised or slowly simmered, these cuts take on new meaning.
Searing them first seals in the flavor. And you may add potatoes and carrots to cook with the meat.
Even the diva of French cooking, Julia Child, considers pot roast one of her favorites because it is easy and inexpensive.
”If you`re really serious about eating, you find the time to put together a pot roast,” Child said from her home in Cambridge, Mass. ”It reheats well, and the flavors improve from reheating.”
But pot roasts have ”fallen out of favor in recent years because they take too long during the work week to prepare,” said Marlys Bielunski, director of test kitchens at the National Live Stock and Meat Board.
She suggests that working folks make pot roast a weekend meal instead:
”The house smells so good, and you can eat leftovers on Monday.”
As with any classic dish, variations on pot roast abound.
Cookbook author Helen Witty prefers the unadulterated taste of pot roast and onions simmered in its natural juices, ”as simple and savory and perfect as pot roast can get.”
Ditto, but try adding sliced carrots and cubed potatoes during the last 40 minutes if you crave veggies, and add 2 cups drained canned tomatoes and a pinch of dried thyme for a not-so-pristine roast.
In ”America the Beautiful Cookbook,” Schultz offers a Western-inspired barbecued pot roast, in which the beef braises in a sweet and spicy tomato sauce. In a pinch, you could add a top-quality bottled barbecue sauce.
In ”The Way to Cook” (Knopf, $50), Child offers her version of pot roast. Child, a Francophile, likes pot roast cooked in a fragrant liquid of red wine, beef stock and sauteed onions and carrots.
Following are a few variations. To cut the time in half, try preparing your roast in the microwave. To cook pot roast while you are at work, enlist the crockpot.
BARBECUED POT ROAST
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 3 1/2 hours
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
This recipe is adapted from ”America the Beautiful Cookbook,” by Phillip Stephen Schultz.
1 small onion, chopped
1 boneless beef chuck roast, 3 1/2 to 4 pounds
1 small clove garlic, bruised
1/2 cup beef stock or bouillon
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/4 cup each: lemon juice, ketchup, cider vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle onion over the bottom of a large heavy pot or Dutch oven. Rub meat well with garlic and place on top of the onions. Cover and bake 1 1/2 hours. Add some stock if the pan juices begin to dry up.
2. Combine tomato sauce, lemon juice, ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, paprika and mustard in a bowl. Pour over meat. Continue to bake, covered, basting every 20 minutes, until meat is tender, about 2 hours longer.
3. Slice meat and arrange on a serving platter. Spoon some sauce on top and serve remaining sauce to the side.
MICROWAVE POT ROAST
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 1/4 hours
Yield: 8 servings
This recipe is adapted from ”The Microwave Cook`s Complete Companion,”
by Rosemary Dunn Stancil and Lorela Nichols Wilkins (Fawcett Columbine, $24.95).
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon each: dried oregano, black pepper
1/2 teaspoon each: garlic salt, salt
1 boneless beef chuck roast, 3 to 4 pounds
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
4 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 onions, peeled and quartered
2 ribs celery, cut into large chunks
1 1/2 cups beef stock or canned beef bouillon
1. Mix flour, oregano, pepper, garlic salt and salt in bowl. Dredge roast in mixture, coating well on all sides. Heat oil in heavy skillet over high heat on rangetop. When oil is hot, add beef and brown on all sides.
2. Place roast in a 4-quart microwave-safe casserole. Add vinegar, Worcestershire, potatoes, carrots, onions, celery and stock. Cover and microwave on high (100 percent power) for 10 minutes. Reduce power to low (30 percent) and continue cooking for 1 hour longer, or until meat and vegetables t ribs celery, cut into large chunks
1 1/2 cups beef stock or canned beef bouillon
1. Mix flour, oregano, pepper, garlic salt and salt in bowl. Dredge roast in mixture, coating well on all sides. Heat oil in heavy skillet over high heat on rangetop. When oil is hot, add beef and brown on all sides.
2. Place roast in a 4-quart microwave-safe casserole. Add vinegar, Worcestershire, potatoes, carrots, onions, celery and stock. Cover and microwave on high (100 percent power) for 10 minutes. Reduce power to low (30 percent) and con
1. Mix flour, oregano, pepper, garlic salt and salt in bowl. Dredge roast in mixture, coating well on all sides. Heat oil in heavy skillet over high heat on rangetop. When oil is hot, add beef and brown on all sides.
2. Place roast in a 4-quart microwave-safe casserole. Add vinegar, Worcestershire, potatoes, carrots, onions, celery and stock. Cover and microwave on high (100 percent power) for 10 minutes. Reduce power to low (30 1 5-pound trimmed bottom round of beef, all but 1/8-inch layer of top fat removed
2-3 tablespoons olive oil or peanut oil
2-3 cups young red wine such as zinfandel or jug red
1 cup each chopped carrots and onions
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2-3 cups beef stock, or more as needed
1 1/2 cups chopped ripe unpeeled tomatoes or drained, canned Italian plum tomatoes
Herb bouquet: 6 parsley sprigs, 6 peppercorns, 3 whole cloves, 4 allspice berries, 1 teaspoon thyme, 2 to 3 smashed cloves garlic, 1 large bay leaf-all tied together in clean cheesecloth
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons cornstarch blended with 2 tablespoons red wine or dry white vermouth, plus more as needed
1. Dry meat with paper towels. If it has not been tied, secure loops of string around meat at 1 1/2-inch intervals. Brush roast with oil, lay it in a jelly roll pan and place 2 to 3 inches from a hot broiler element; turn every several minutes to brown all sides nicely-10 to 15 minutes in all. Or brown beef in oil in large frying pan. Arrange meat in a large covered casserole, deglaze pan with a little wine and pour over meat.
2. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Saute chopped vegetables in skillet in a little oil to brown lightly. Turn them into the pan with beef. Pour in rest of the wine and enough broth so the liquid comes a third of the way up the meat. Add tomatoes and herb bouquet.
3. Bring pan to a simmer on top of the range, and lay a sheet of aluminum foil over the beef. Cover roaster and place on lower rack of oven. Or, if your casserole is not flameproof, set in a 425-degree oven until it simmers. In 10 to 15 minutes, or when liquid in the casserole starts to bubble, reduce temperature to 325 degrees. Baste and turn the meat several times, salt lightly in an hour and maintain liquid at a slow simmer throughout cooking.
4. Beef is done when a sharp-pronged fork goes through meat easily, 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours. Remove meat to a board. Strain braising liquid into a saucepan, pressing juices out of the vegetables. Return beef to the roaster.
5. For gravy, degrease braising juices and bring to a simmer. Skim off any additional fat that rises. Taste carefully for strength and seasoning. If the liquid is weak in flavor, boil down rapidly and concentrate it. You should have 2 1/2 to 3 cups deliciously winey meat juices. Correct seasoning, remove from heat and whisk in cornstarch mixture. When blended, return to heat and simmer 2 minutes. Sauce should just coat a spoon lightly.
6. Remove meat to board, discard strings and slice. Pour sauce over and around beef.
