Crockpot Sunday: Classic Potroast with Garlic-Thyme Gravy

First of all, thank you to my friend Emily for sending me a subscription to Cuisine at Home magazine. I like this for many reasons. I like this because I've known Emily since kindiegarden and we were BFFs throughout our youngin' years and its awesome she still thinks of me from time to time! I also like this because I love me some magazines in the mail (I get that from my mama), food magazines the most! I also especially like this because this months issue came with a 'Back by Popular Demand Slow Cooker' magazine! Jackpot!

I decided to start out my new series of Crockpot Sunday recipes with the cover recipe because it looked Oh-So-Good. I made this last Sunday and not only did it make my entire house smell of delicious beef (because we all know thats one of the best smells on earth- Yankee Candle Co. should make a potroast candle... I'd buy it...), but it was fall-apart tender and reminded me of a middle of winter dinner.

It did steer away a bit from the tradition potroasts I've grown up with in one way: the gravy. The gravy includes tomato paste, which I'll tell you, isn't a bad thing at all. It adds a sweet tangy quality to the dish that you don't get with regular gravy!

P.S. I also apologize for the picture. I was in such a hurry to sit down and eat it, I forgot to make it 'pretty' on my plate for a picture. Instead, I just threw it all on the plate and smothered it with gravy. Sorry. Wait, I'm not sorry. It was delicious, and I refuse to apologize for delicious food, no matter how off-putting it looks.

Truly unappetizing photo,
but truly mouth-wateringly good!

Cuisine Slow Cooker Potroast with Garlic-Thyme Gravy

Ingredients:

* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 3-4 lb. boneless chuck roast, trimmed, seasoned with salt and pepper
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 tablespoons tomato paste
* 1/2 cup dry white wine (I omitted because I was cooking for 2 preggos and you can never be too sure)
* 1 1/2 cup beef broth
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (just as hard to spell as it is to say!)
* 2 cups sliced onions
* 6 medium carrots, cut into 2-to-3 in. pieces
* 3 large celery ribs, cut same was as carrots
* 5 cloves garlic
* 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
* 2 dried bay leaves

To Do:

* Heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Brown roast on all sides, about 10 minutes total (I kept mine on a litttttttle longer to create more browning in the pan to make a richer gravy). Transfer roast to slow cooker.

* Stir flour into pan and cook for one minute. Add tomato paste and cook for one more minute.

* Deglaze saute pan with wine (I just used addition beef broth since I didn't cook with the wine), cooking until liquid evaporates. Stir in beef broth and Worcestershire and bring mixture to a simmer. Be sure to scrape up any browned bits from the roast.

* Transfer broth mixture to the slow cooker. Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, and bay leaves.

* Cover and cook on high setting for 4-5 hours or on low setting (I used this one) for 8-9 hours.

* I pulled the roast onto a serving plate (well, tried, it was so tender it kept falling out), as well as the veggies. I discarded the thyme and bay leaves. To thicken the gravy I added a cornstarch mixture (2 tablespoons cornstarch, two tablespoons water mixed together and then added to the hot liquid in the crockpot), and mixed it with a whisk until it was the right consistency.

My usual potroasts include small red potatoes in the crockpot, but this time I opted to make mashed potatoes for on the side. I mean, come on- I had a crockpot full o' gravy... mashed potatoes are mandatory in situations like that!