Pan Seared Pot Roast with Roasted Veggies

Last night we had the great pleasure of having dinner with our wonderful friends Zack and Molly.  They have two beautiful little boys who are filled with energy!  Just after Molly and I finished dinner, all the food was set out on the table, and the boys had  brushed their teeth and were in bed, we suddenly started hearing chanting coming from their bedroom.  "I'm hungry!!!  I'm hungry!!!" sounded from the bedroom.  We all couldn't help but giggle.  We all knew that there was just too much fun going on in the dining room and Connor and Shep didn't want to miss out on a moment of it!  After fetching them from their beds and smothering some bread in raspberry jam, we all sat down and dove in!

Molly and I spent a fun afternoon together, running an errand to the grocery store with the boys, both happily sampling the chocolate covered strawberries without thinking twice.  Browsing the produce section with little chocolate covered faces, we found all the missing ingredients for our oven roasted veggies.

After reseasoning the cast iron skillet and thankfully not making a smokey mess, or causing a major catastrophe in the kitchen...  we were ready to go!  Molly and I embarked on second cooking adventure (our first being Thanksgiving!).

We served this up with a delicious loaf of bread Molly found at Central Market and some garlic butter we made.  Kind of  a heart attack waiting to happen, but really, it's worth it for the flavor!  (The boys even started smothering their roast with the garlic butter).  :)

We topped the evening off with a fresh Mango Strawberry Sorbet (made in the super, awesome ice cream maker - but could easily be made without one!).  A nice contrast to a heavy, rich dessert.  That recipe will come at a later date.  Promise!

(And one little possibly, slightly selfish thing...  I was given the great pleasure of using their nice camera!  All the more reason I can't wait for Nicholas and me to get a new camera.  We're thinking it might be a nice one year anniversary gift for ourselves!).

Pan Seared Pot Roast
1 pot roast (as many or few pounds as you like!)
1 - 3 tbs butter
Worcestershire Sauce
garlic powder
salt & pepper

Heat oven to 325.

Using a cast iron skillet, heat on medium heat, melting butter (more for a larger roast and less for a smaller - we had a 1.6lb roast and used about 1 tbs butter). 

Season the top of the roast with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Once skillet is heated,  place seasoned side-down in the skillet and allow to brown for about 45-60 second.  Season the top of the roast at this point, so once the bottom finished searing, you can turn the roast over and sear the recently seasoned side.  While you are not seasoning, toss some Worcestershire Sauce over the roast and into the pan.  Continue to do this until all sides of the roast (including the ends!) have been seasoned and seared.

Once all sides of the roast have been seasoned place roast in the oven, baking 35 minutes per pound and an internal temperature of 135 is reached.

Remove roast from oven and allow to sit for about 15 minutes before slicing.

Serve with horseradish or this homemade "horseradish-like" sauce!

"Horseradish" Sauce
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup freshly grated horseradish root
salt & pepper
crushed garlic (if desired)

To prepare the horseradish root, remove the outside, revealing the white flesh.  Grate flesh.  Combine horseradish root and sour cream together.  Season with salt and pepper, and garlic if you'd like, until you reach your desired flavor!


Oven Roasted Veggies
4 red potatoes (diced)
1 red onion (diced)
2 zucchinis (diced)
4 carrots (diced)
1/4 cup (or more) olive oil
2 - 4 tbs butter
salt & pepper
rosemary

Preheat oven to 325 (this works well if you're baking these while the roast cooks!  You may decide to use a higher temperature if you're not cooking the roast at the same time).

In a glass pan, combine all the veggies together.  Season with salt, pepper, and rosemary.  Drizzle over olive oil and top with butter (amount depend on your preference!).

Bake for 60-75 minutes or until potatoes are soft and cooked fully through.  Serve with roast.