The Simplest Pot Roast Ever
This recipe is from Long Way on a Little: An Earth Lovers’ Companion for Enjoying Meat, Pinching Pennies and Living Deliciously, by Shannon Hayes (Left to Write Press, September 2012, grassfedcooking.com).
The secret to this recipe is a good sear, followed by time in the slow cooker with very little liquid, resulting in concentrated beef flavor, and intensely flavored sauce. Serves 4-10
1 (3-5 lbs) beef pot roast, bone-in or boneless (chuck roasts or brisket are ideal)
2 Tbsp coarse unrefined sea salt
1 Tbsp ground black pepper
2 Tbsp lard, butter or tallow
1 cup meat broth
1 large yellow or white onion, sliced in rings
Wipe the roast well with paper towels and rub the salt and pepper into all sides of the meat. – Heat a skillet over a medium-high flame, add the fat and swirl to coat.
Sear the meat 3 to 4 minutes per side. Put it in the bottom of a slow cooker.
Add the broth to the pan and simmer about 5 minutes, scraping up any browned bits and in- corporating them into the juices. When the broth is reduced by about one third, add it to the slow cooker.
Layer the onion on top of the meat, cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours, until tender.
Serve the meat with the juice spooned over the top.
Smoked Sausage with Cabage and Apples
This recipe comes from Dee Horst-Landis, owner and manager of Sweet Stem Farm. She recommends the use of sausage because it’s affordable, and a good choice for sustainable eating since the trim used to make sausage accounts for about 35 percent of the whole pig.
1 lb Sweet Stem Farm Smoked Sausage cut into 2 in. lengths
3 cooking apples, thickly sliced
1/2 head of red cabbage, shredded
1 onion, sliced
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup apple juice
Layer the sausage, apples, cabbage and onion (in this order) in a slow cooker. Sprinkle the brown sugar, salt and black pepper on top.
Pour the apple juice over all the other ingredients—do not stir. Cover.
Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours.
