Incredible Venison or Beef Pot Roast

I can't handle bad pot roast. Have you ever endured dried out, tasteless, "tough as leather" pot roast? Most of my life I've had a hate relationship with this meal. I was raised not to complain about food and to "eat what's on your plate." Typically I abide by that principle, but I guess this blog is my highway to vent, just this once, about bad pot roast.

Honestly, I've rarely eaten it and enjoyed the experience. Tough meat, a generally flavorless meal, huge chunks of potatoes, often undercooked carrots and limited greasy broth to used as a tool to choke down the dry meal. NOT. A. FAN. So, early on in our marriage I set out to create a pot roast I would actually enjoy. And what would that look like?
Dream with me...

Imagine tender, "fall-apart-in-your-mouth" meat. Savory spices that deliciously operate as one. Taste the entire entre smothered in wonderfully satisfying gravy. Feel mouthfuls of pleasantly tender vegetables. Gone are the large, starchy potato chunks; welcome to the dish, seasoned, fluffy, REAL mashed potatoes! Ahhh, isn't this what pot roast should be?!

I can't say I'm a venison fanatic, nor would I dream of killing Bambi. I'm not an animal killer, but I have no qualms about eating what others take down. Typically I find venison tough and chewy, but not in this recipe. If you really hate venison or just don't have any, venison can easily be replaced with beef.

I'd sit here and walk you through the steps of putting together this recipe, but it'd be a waste of my time (and yours) when I can do it in one sentence. Take all the ingredients and dump them into your crock pot. BAM.

Now that we've gotten those exhaustive instructions out of the way, I'll give you just a few tips that, to me, make a big difference in this pot roast experience.

1. Use fresh mushrooms. Sure, if you insist and don't mind a gummy texture or less flavor, you can substitute canned 'shrooms. Me? How'd you guess? Not a fan.
2. Serve the pot roast over authentic mashed potatoes. I can't handle instant mashed potatoes. Few things disappoint me more.
3. The more carrots the merrier. Again, my opinion. I'm a carrot lover and get seriously bummed when there are plenty of leftovers but carrots aren't a member of that party.

A brief word on real mashed potatoes. YUM. Sure, it's another step, but so worth it! If you're under the impression you must peel your potatoes, dump that step. It's more labor, there is so much nutrition in potato skins, and they add great texture! 20% of a potatoes nutrition is found in it's skin. Don't believe me? Read up... Potato Goodness.

I scrub my potatoes, cut them into chunks and toss them into boiling water until they can easily be penetrated with a fork. I then whip them with a little heated milk and add fresh garlic chives and ground pepper. Fabulous stuff.

Enjoy this meal from my kitchen and please let us know how you like it!

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:4
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INCREDIBLE VENISON OR BEEF POT ROAST

 

Prep time: 10-15 min.

Cook time: 6-8 hours

Yield: About 6-8 servings

 

Ingredients

• 2-3 lbs venison roast (or beef roast)
• 1 can (10.5 oz) cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup chicken or beef broth
• 2 cloves crushed garlic
• 2 medium white onions, chopped
• 5-6 medium carrots, peeled and cut to1 inch lengths
• 5 fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. Worchestershire sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. dried rosemary
• salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Directions

1. Throw all the ingredients into your crock pot and simmer on low for 6-8 hours.
2. Salt and pepper to taste.
3. Serve over real mashed potatoes.