Adapted from recipe found in my friend Karen Szabo’s mother—Lorene Gibson’s—recipe box in Tulsa, OK from a recipe by Mrs. Jack Morris of Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
My upper-midwest childhood was filled with Sunday roasts that would get popped into the oven when we got home from church, and which would fill the house with wonderful smells while the Green Bay Packers were playing on the television.
This is kinda like those roasts… but way, WAY BETTER (sorry mom!!). Definitely company worthy. And, if you have leftovers, count yourself lucky! Makes 8 servings.
Fall-apart, moist, tender, and delicious beef roast, accompanied by the oven-roasted vegetables (potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, and mushrooms) that have been cloaked in the wonderful onion-mushroom gravy.
The roast getting about five minutes of medium-high searing to create a beautiful brown exterior crust that enriches the gravy and keeps the meat moist. (I love using my great-aunt Dorothy’s ancient MagnaLite roaster!)
Ingredients
3 - 4 pound chuck roast or blade roast
½ tsp. seasoning salt
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 T. olive oil
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1 package “beefy onion” soup mix
1 (14.5 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
½ cup water
½ cup dry sherry
1 T. soy sauce
2 T. flat-leaf parsley, minced
1 tsp. Mrs. Dash
½ tsp. poultry seasoning
½ tsp. Italian seasoning
After 75 minutes of roasting, the prepared veggies get piled on top of the meat and gravy, to cook for another hour… and lend their aromatic flavors to the gravy.
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
¼ tsp. white pepper
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4 medium red potatoes, quartered
1 large yellow onion, cut into 12 vertical wedges
3 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
3 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch chunks
1 (8 oz.) package of crimini musrooms, quartered
Instructions / Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Trim excess fat from roast. Pat dry. Sprinkle meat with seasoning salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown meat on all sides in the oil.
While meat is browning, mix onion soup mix and cream of mushroom soup with the sherry and water. Stir in the remainder of ingredients. Once the meat is browned, pour mixture over the roast.
Place into oven, covered for 75 minutes; at that point, add carrots, onions, celery, mushrooms, and potatoes to the Dutch oven to surround. the meat. Return to oven, covered, for another hour — 30 minutes with the cover, and 30 minutes uncoverd to let the veggies roast — until the meat is fork tender, and the veggies are soft.
The result… fall-apart-tender meat that is moist and succulent.
Remove roast and vegetables to a heated serving platter, and tent with foil. Skim as much fat from the cooking liquid as possible. Over medium heat, whisk the gravy and — if needed — add 1/4 cup of sherry or vermouth. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes until the gravy thickens to the desired consistency. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper (as needed).
The roasted veggies on a heated pewter platter, just waiting to be joined by serving-sized chunks of the roast.
Pour gravy into sauceboat; serve immediately with the roast, accompanied by the pan-roasted vegetables.