1950's Pot Roast Special for the Busy Cook

By deanarrca

This recipe had to be invented in the 50's by Mrs. Cleaver; she probably used frozen peas and carrots. Don't despair over the canned soup and packaged soup mix; just try it, then scoff if you will. The time-bake oven gadget was invented for this pot roast; it goes into the oven frozen before breakfast, and comes out 6 p.m., meat-falling-off-the-bone wonderful.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 lbs. beef chuck or bottom round roast
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
• 1 envelope dried onion soup mix
• 1 medium yellow onion, 1/3" thick
• trimmed, peeled, and sliced
• 3 sprigs fresh herb, such as tarragon thyme, or savory
• 3 russet potatoes, 2 cups
• washed, peeled, and cut into 2" chunks
• 5 carrots, peeled and sliced
• on diagonal into 2" chunks

Details

Servings 8

Preparation

Step 1

For frozen meat, unwrap the meat and put it into a roasting pan. Spread the undiluted mushroom soup over the meat and sprinkle the onion soup mix over the mushroom soup. Place the onion slices over the dried soup. Cover with foil, making sure the edges are sealed. Place pan in oven and set the time bake for 4 hours at 275 degrees, so that it will be finished cooking 1 hour before you want to serve it. One hour before serving, unwrap the foil and place the prepared vegetables and herbs around the meat. Seal the foil and continue cooking for an hour. For thawed meat, follow the same procedure, but reduce the initial cooking time to 2 hours.

Variations: Use tiny new potatoes or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained. Use those packaged, peeled small carrots and/or winter root vegetables. Add 1 fennel bulb, cut in half, then sliced (about 1/3" thick). Add 1 cup red table wine. Add 1/2 lb. small button mushrooms with stems removed, or 1/2 lb. fresh wild mushrooms. Add the potatoes, beans, carrots, fennel, winter roots, or wine at the final hour; add mushrooms 30 minutes before serving.Yield: 6 servings.