Cajun Pot Roast
My mother in law taught me how to cook a roast. It’s one of my favorite things that she cooks. The woman can cook, okay.. If you have ever looked up pot roast recipes, you have likely found that you brown the roast and add stock before placing it in the oven. I have been taught to season my roast and place over butter and not add in any water or stock prior because the meat produces a lot of water itself and we like to brown it down after it’s removed from the oven because it makes a beautiful dark gravy. We also like to stuff with chow chow and minced garlic because some like it HOT! This is such a comforting meal and I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do! By the way, you can skip the step of carrots and halved onions if you’re not feeling it. I added carrots and halved onions on a whim because I thought it made a pretty presentation and it’s kind of classic. Below this paragraph is a definition of chow chow I found because I’m aware that there’s a lot of people who are not familiar with it. There are many different types. Babe’s Maw Gloria’s chow chow has always been my favorite. It’s very simple and packs a punch using her home grown cayenne peppers and vinegar.
Cajun Chow Chow-is a spicy relish of pickled chopped vegetables. which contains no 'filler' items, such as cabbage or corn. There are probably as many varieties of Chow chow as there are Southern cooks
1 4-5 lb beef rump roast
red pepper
black pepper
salt
onion powder
garlic powder
2 chicken bouillon cubes crushed up to a fine powder
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 stick of butter
4 medium sized onions
1 bell pepper
2 garlic heads minced
chow chow OR minced cayenne or jalapeño peppers with vinegar
3 large carrots cut up
red wine
water
Worcestershire sauce
Tobasco hot sauce
1/2 cup parsley diced
1/2 cup cut green onions
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Season rump roast liberally with red pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, salt, and chicken bouillon in a dish or bowl.
Prepare stuffing mixture in a bowl. Put chow chow and garlic in a bowl in a 50/50 ratio and mix. If you don’t have chow chow, minced jalapeño or cayenne mixed with a little vinegar will do.
Cut approximately 1 inch slits all over roast stuffing each slit with your mixture of chow chow and garlic. There should be at least 10 slits cut into roast.
In a large Dutch oven or roaster, place olive oil in pot over a high heat. Once pot is hot, place 2 onions cut in halves and brown each side of onion halves for about 2-3 minutes or until brown. You may need to add more olive oil as needed. Now, place cut up carrots in for about 1-2 minutes tossing around.
Turn heat off. Place 1 stick of butter in middle of pot. Place roast over butter and cover pot with lid. Place pot in oven.
Bake roast for 4-6 hrs or until tender testing with fork.
Once roast is tender, place pot on stove removing the lid. Remove halved onions and sliced carrots and set aside. This is to prevent is from being complete mush. Turn fire on hot and boil until almost all of liquid has evaporated.
Brown all sides of roast deglazing pot with red wine or water as needed.
Once you’re satisfied with your browned roast, add 2 cut up onions and bell pepper around roast. Add several dashes of Worcestershire and Tobasco while browning your veggies. Towards end of browning veggies, add head of minced garlic and brown. You will need to deglaze pot as needed during this process with water. This step is what takes me the longest. I like to brown my veggies moving around the roast as I brown. Flip roast as needed during this process as well just so one side isn’t more browned than the other. This should take at least 30 minutes. Add water and cook down until you’re satisfied with thickness of your gravy.
Add your carrots and halved onions back to the pot. Put cut parsley and green onions in gravy and cook for just a little while longer. Approximately 10 minutes.
Serve over rice or potatoes. Enjoy!
Step 1
My seasoning station
Step 2
Chow Chow and Garlic stuffing
Step 3
Get your Michael Myers on.
Step 4 and 5
Remember the halved onions and carrots are optional ;)
Step 6
Drop this baby off in your oven and set your timer to 4 hours and reassess from there! If its not tender, cook for 2 more hours or until tender.
Step 7
Removing the roast from the oven and placing uncovered pot on burner. Think of this as before it puts its makeup on. Hahaha We still have some work to do until she’s pretty!
If you do choose to use carrots and halved onions, make sure to remove them and set aside until later to prevent them from being too mushy.
Step 7 continued…
Steps 8 and 9 in above 3 photos
Brown baby brown!
