Happy New Year!

For Christmas, I got a cast iron casserole dish- a Dutch oven. I had been wanting one for awhile, so Mom and Dad got me a beautiful blue one - the brand is called Cooks, it's from JCPenny Home. So when I got the oven, I thought right away that I wanted to make a pot roast for G on New Years. It's his favorite - and I wanted to do something thoughtful and nice. So today, we made a great roast. G uses a recipe that his mom always made for him as a kid (below). It came out great, and we had plenty to share with his roommates. We decided to have a nice sit down dinner at the dining room table - place mats, and nice dishes and all. We had such a great time that we are planning to make a habit of Sunday night dinners for the year 2012! It is off to a great start!

Pot Roast:

Bottom Round Roast
3 Potatoes
6 Carrots
1 Large Yellow Onion
4 Cloves Garlic
6 Beef Bouillon Cubes
3 1/2 Cups water
Pepper and Salt to taste
Garlic Powder
Minced Dried Onions
Olive Oil
1/2 cup flour

Set conventional oven temperature to 325. Peel and slice into bite sized pieces potatoes, carrots and onion and set aside. Rub roast with olive oil, garlic powder, minced onions, crushed garlic, salt and pepper. Place in dutch oven and surround with vegetables. Put 3 cups water in oven, and place 4 bouillon cubes around the roast in the water. Place cover on the dutch oven and bake in conventional oven for approximately 90 minutes - 2 hours or until the roast is 160 degrees (for well done). When finished cooking, set aside roast to rest (cover with tin foil). Remove vegetables from dutch oven. Put drippings into a sauce pan (for gravy) and put on low heat. Mix 1/2 cup flour with 1/2 cup water and stir. Add slowly to drippings. Add 2 bouillon cubes and salt and pepper to taste. Stir until thickened, about 5 minutes. Serve gravy over roast with vegetables as sides. Enjoy!