This recipe hails from New England and is over two hundred years old. Its simplicity and frugality reflect early American life and our puritan roots. This dish is made in one pot and because it is cooked on a low heat (it takes three hours to cook) it frees the cook to work on other things, which was very important in early American kitchens and of paramount importance to the practical and hard working puritans. Not only that, this cooking technique makes a tough cut moist and delicious. Some historians believe that early Americans adopted this technique, where you browned the meat before simmering it for hours, from the Native Americans who have an even older recipe for a pot roast: “A hunk of venison or moose meat. Scorch it all over in some grease until it is brown. Put it in a kettle with some water and salt. Dig up some horseradish, and some wild carrot. Put a little of each in the kettle, and boil a long time until the meat is cooked. Then stir in some corn meal to make gravy.”
What is not in dispute though, is that early New England dishes like Boiled Dinner which used beef brisket and the Yankee Pot Roast were essential and many working animals (oxen) where used in these dinners. Early American life was marked by hard work, clearing forest and making farmsteads. I really enjoyed making this dish because there were no spices in it, just salt and pepper and yet I did not miss the herbs or spices. The roast was fantastic and made for an elegant Sunday supper. I especially loved the gravy at the end, if only I had made it on a wood stove. Then the whole colonial experience would have been complete!
Yankee Pot Roast
Ingredients:
1 La Cense Grass-fed Pot Roast*
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons salt
Fresh black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1-cup water
6 medium red potatoes
6 carrots, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
1 small turnip or a large parsnip, pared and sliced
For the gravy:
1/4 cup flour
Salt and pepper to taste
1-cup water
Preparation: Season flour with salt and pepper coat pot roast in flour, using a Dutch oven or large skillet brown the meat on all sides for 15 to 20 minutes until it is fully browned. Add one-cup water cover tightly and cook at a low heat for 1 and a half hours. After an hour and a half add potatoes and vegetables add salt to your liking and bit more water so that the vegetables to do not stick. Cook for another hour until the vegetables and meat are tender. To make the gravy, remove the pot roast and the vegetables to a serving dish. Add one cup of water to the pot let boil, remove and set aside. Using a bit of the fat from the pan or a pat or two of butter melt in the bottom of the pan, add flour to make paste, then add the juices from the roast and whisk until smooth, salt to your liking and serve as gravy with sliced pot roast and vegetables and enjoy!
*La Cense’s new harvest cuts, including the pot roast will ready by Thanksgiving.
