I work hard at home. In the chaos of taking care of the little ones and managing to keep our home orderly, as well as keeping myself put together- sometimes cooking is not very near the top of the priority list. I keep the children fed well, but sometimes Chris and I don’t eat as well as they do. So- as it stands, just about every other week is a good week for me in terms of planning all of our meals, making them and still holding the rest of our busy lives together.
Today I had planned on making a pot roast. It’s officially fall now and I really wanted to welcome in the season with a warm, delicious pot roast- complete with slow roasted potatoes and carrots, etc. Well, I browned this big pot roast until it was the perfect color on all sides so as to really seal in the moisture as it cooked. I seasoned it with extra care- even adding some of my secret ingredient. And then I cooked it in the oven, despite the fact that 1. I always cook a pot roast on the stove, and 2. this piece of meat was larger than any pot roast known to mankind.
I don’t know what happened to it. I cooked it just like my mom’s recipe said to cook it. And I put the potatoes in halfway through because they usually get mushy on the stove. Well, it looked pretty when it came out. And then I took to sawing at it, and yes I do mean literally sawing at it. It was (and still is) the toughest piece of meat I’ve ever cooked. After cutting it for a good 10 minutes I finally had enough cut up to give Amai. Then I realized that those beautiful potatoes hadn’t cooked all the way. So- I did what any good American would do- I popped a bowl of the potatoes in the microwave and nuked ‘em.
When Amai bit into the meat, I just sat back and waited. After all, what goes better with meat than a little “whine.” Instead she smiled really big and said, “Mmmmm… Chewy!” and just kept on chewing. Chris even ate some of it, but said that he had to take a break because his jaw hurt. Oh dear! What happened? Is there some special trick to pot roast? Mine seem to be so unpredictable. This time it turned out horribly, last time it was perfect. Oh where is the secret trick for a perfect pot roast?
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