New Recipe Challenge, Day 5: Balsamic Roast Beef and Roasted Potatoes

I hope you all are having a wonderful day today!  My allergies have subsided, the baby only had me up once last night, and I feel almost human again.  So, let's get cooking!

I have been dying to try this recipe ever since I found it on Pinterest over a month ago.  It's hard to find cheap beef roasts these days, so I haven't had a chance to make it yet.  Until now.  And I'm glad I'm going to be able to share the experience with you.  I have high hopes for this recipe.  It's a beef roast, with balsamic vinegar, cooked in a crock pot.  What could go wrong?

<cue maniacal laughter>

However, sometimes even the best laid plans go horribly, horribly awry.  I got up this morning and went to the kitchen to throw everything into the crock pot, anticipating being able to smell the delicious aroma of roasting beef all day long.

Until I realized I didn't have any beef broth, which, as you will see, you need for the recipe, and Adam had the car today.  Fortunately, my wonderful friend Maggie helped me out by picking up a can of beef broth for me.  So,  I was a little late getting the roast into the crock pot (noon vs the 8am I was planning earlier), but just crank the bitch up to 'high' and everything will be fine.  Right?

Until.  Until I went into the kitchen an hour later (so now 1pm) and discovered that while I had put everything into the crock pot and turned it to 'high', I had neglected to actually PLUG IN THE DAMNED CROCK POT!!!  Son of a bitch!

Do not fear, dear readers, as I am able to (usually) think quickly on my feet, and a mere 20 minutes after PLUGGING IN THE DAMNED CROCK POT, realized that if I cut the roast into smaller pieces, they'll cook faster.  I'm usually better prepared than this, honestly.  I don't know what my issue is today.  Anyway, I hauled the roast out of the crock pot and hacked it into 5 or 6 smaller pieces and put them back in the sauce.  Since the beef is going to be shredded anyway, the smaller pieces shouldn't matter from a presentation standpoint, plus they're covered better by the marinade in the crock pot anyway.

That was the story of my morning.  Fun times.  So, let's get down to the how-to's.  I'll start with the roast and then do the potatoes.

You will need:

• A beef roast
• Balsamic vinegar, 1/2 cup
• Soy sauce, 1 tablespoon
• Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon
• Honey, 1 tablespoon
• Minced garlic
• Beef broth, 1 cup
• Crushed red pepper flakes

What to do:

1.  The original recipe said to put the roast into the "insert in your slow cooker".  I have no idea what type of insert this is and my 30+ year old crock pot certainly doesn't have one.  So, I just tossed the roast in.

2.  Mix the rest of the ingredients together and dump on top of the roast.

3.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours.  Due to my flubs earlier in the day, I cooked it on high.

4.  Thirty minutes or so before serving, pull the meat out and shred it with a fork.

5.  Return to crock pot and mix back into the lovely juices, cooking on low another 30 mins. 

And that's it for the roast.

Now for the potatoes:

You will need:

• Potatoes.  I used baby Idaho Golds, I think.
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic salt
• Paprika

The basics:

1.  Cut the potatoes in half, or in quarters if they're on the large side.

2.  Place in your baking dish and toss with olive oil.

3.  Season to your liking with salt, pepper, garlic salt, and paprika.  Don't be afraid of the paprika, people.  It's wonderful.

 4.  Bake at 400° for 30-45 minutes, or until potatoes are nicely toasted, brown, and fork tender.

So, this was dinner:

The verdict:  The beef had an excellent flavor.  Excellent, excellent, excellent.  However, the meat was very dry.  I blame both the cut (it was very lean) and the fact I had to cook it on high.  Also, in retrospect, cutting it into the smaller pieces probably caused it to dry out more than it would have otherwise.  Adam and I both think that if there was some kind of sauce, cream based perhaps, served on the side that it would help quite a bit.  I plan on having the leftovers for lunch tomorrow as a sandwich. The potatoes are an old recipe of mine and were, as always, excellent.

So, that's that.  Come back tomorrow for our last night of the New Recipe Challenge:  Arroz Con Pollo.


Where ever you are in your day, I hope it's a good one!