Roasted

I really have no words for dinner tonight.

It was probably one of the best meals I’ve ever made and was definitely the best smelling meal ever.

I actually started our dinner around 2 this afternoon. And since that’s all I could smell in the house today, I had a good snack around 3:30…to keep me from digging into dinner too early.

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I chopped up one small gala apple, sprinkled it with cinnamon and a pinch of salt, and then popped it in the microwave for a minute.

Once that came out, I topped it with 1 Tbsp cinnamon raisin pb and a sprinkling of graham cracker crumbs.

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And dinner.

I’m really not even going to try to explain this – I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking.

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Nick and I bought this dutch oven a few months ago and I’ve yet to use it. I was waiting to make a beef burgundy, but I realized pot roast was on the menu plan for this week and I really wanted to do a real pot roast instead of the roast in the crockpot like I normally do.

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Today was the day.

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I had a sirloin top roast that I thawed in the fridge over the past day. I seared it in the dutch oven in a bit of olive oil. Once it was browned on both sides, I took it out of the pan and added some diced onion, carrot and 2 garlic cloves and let them soften.

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Once the vegetables were softened, I added in 1 Tbsp of tomato paste, 1 cup of red wine, 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1 cup of broth, salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary. After letting that come to a simmer, I put the roast back in the pan and put it in a 325 degree oven to cook for 3 hours.

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I took the pot out and put more sauce on top about every hour while working this afternoon.

Once the meat was cooked and tender, I cooked 8 oz. of sliced mushrooms in a bit of olive oil + butter and added them to the sauce while Nick sliced the roast.

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And then, we ate.

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Roast with carrots, onions, and mushrooms.

Steamed broccoli.

Virginia red wine.

Whole grain bread with Kerrygold butter.

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All I can say is that I wish every day was like this…but without my day job ;) 

I had so much fun working on this meal all day! The house smelled wonderful…and it smelled like home. Like love. Like we were about to have the best meal ever.

And I think we did tonight.

 

20 comments

  1. Delicious! The crock pot is a miracle worker I think

  2. Pot roast is my favorite meal!! Yours looks so yummy. :)

  3. Ooh this looks yummy – I feel like I could smell it while reading your post :-)

  4. that looks amazing! i wish my hubby ate meat!

  5. Well done with dinner! I love when meals make the whole house smell – yum!

  6. Oh my goodness that looks delish! So jealous – would be such a perfect meal for a cold NYC night (like tonight) – mmm so gourmet!!

  7. I’m so glad you had such a good time making that! It’s very Julie Powell of you to have worked so hard on what looks like a great meal. :-) Maybe that could be your day job! You could be the next Julie&Julia, BranAppetit style! ;-)

  8. I’ve never been one to love red meat – but now I’m craving it! beautiful meal, Brandi :)

  9. Amazing job on the pot roast dinner! I am intimidated to try it but maybe I should.

    Enjoy the rest of your evening! xoxo

  10. That looks fantastic!! We got a new dutch oven, and I’m dying to try a real pot roast too…darn day job :)

  11. This looks FABULOUS girl!!! Such a great comforting cold night dinner idea, love it :)

  12. brandi…this looks AWESOME! i want a dutch oven so bad – they are perfect for making roasts. i don’t eat much meat, but this is definitely something i would be all over! love you girl!

  13. delish! i like the snack better than the dinner…cause you know, us veg heads. LOL. but props for making that!!!

  14. That sounds amazing!

    I’ve never made a real pot roast before – maybe Santa will bring me a Dutch Oven for Christmas ;-)

  15. That looks so good. I never have enough patience for stuff that takes that long to cook.

  16. Everything looks SO good!!
    very “Julie and Julia”

    xoxox

  17. That looks delicious and I am glad you enjoyed it so much!!

    I want a dutch oven too and hope to get a real one some day. I always check them out when I go to places like Marshalls and TJ Maxx. One day, I am just going to bite the bullet and buy one!

  18. I can smell that all the way over here—you did a beautiful job on that meal!!! :-)

  19. I used to love the smell of pot roast cooking when I was growing up. Nothing better.

  20. Holy cow! That looked wonderful! It’s so cold here right now – I think it’s about 27 degrees and I can’t get warm. However, if I had a roast like that cooking in my oven, I bet I wouldn’t need to be wearing two pair of socks! You just made the perfect winter meal (even if it technically isn’t winter yet) :)

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