I say surprisingly because when I read the recipe I didn't think much of it. Most crock pot pot roast are pretty ordinary and Ho-Hum in flavor. This one surprised me with the deep rich flavor and awesome gravy. There's a little New Orleans tavern that has the best roast beef I have ever put in my mouth...Parkway Bakery and Tavern, been around since 1911, baking bread , roasting beef and making po-boys . I have their recipe but it is not easy to prepare. This one cooks while you're at work.
I have never had anything come out of a crock pot that came close to Parkway's ....Except this one!
I followed the recipe to the letter and was blown away with the great flavor...better than Parkway's....No , not better , but near about as good and a lot easier .
Crock Pot Mississippi Pot Roast
1 - 3 lb. Chuck Roast
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt Free Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
1 - pkg. dry ranch dressing mix
1 - pkg. dry Lipton onion soup mix
1 - stick (1/2 cup) butter, unsalted
8 to 12 Peperoncini peppers (they come in a jar)
4 - whole cloves garlic - peeled
Instructions:
1. Heat up a large heavy skillet on high.
2. Add oil to hot skillet.
3. You want it really hot so as to brow the meat quickly.
4. Take a paper towel and dry both sides of the roast.
5. Season with salt and pepper or your favorite Cajun spice .
6. Once the skillet is nice and hot, add the roast.
7. Allow to brown about 2 to 3 minutes, do not lift, use tongs to peek.
8. When well browned, use tongs & spatula , to flip over. Brown that side 2 to 3 minutes.
9. Transfer roast to slow cooker. Deglaze bottom of pan with about 1/3 cup cold water, to get all the pan goodness, boil for 1 to 2 minutes to concentrate flavor.
10. Sprinkle packets of ranch dressing and onion soup mix over roast.
11. Top with 1 stick butter (just set on top of roast) toss in , over and around pepperoncini peppers and whole cloves of garlic.
12. Cover , cook on low 8 hours.
13. Remove Roast when done , it will be falling apart tender , and pour drippings into a fat separator and defat the gravy (important) use as is or as a base with dark roux to make a rich brown gravy for rice and gravy. Au Jus is great for sandwiches / po-boys.
14. Remove any fat from roast and place meat in a dish with the Au Jus .
Warning, this recipe contains over 1 Tablespoon of salt in it , those on salt restricted diets should avoid this salt bomb.!
Just try it once but only if you can have salt !
Gary