Pot Roast in foil

Cafe Society
1

My mother used to make pot roast in foil, and this evening I’m carrying on the family tradition. Tear off about a five-foot piece of 18-inch-wide aluminum foil. Set the piece of pot roast in the center of it; surround it with chunks of potato, baby carrots, and an onion, cut into chunks. Sprinkle on a couple tablespoons of minced garlic and two packets of Lipton’s Onion Soup mix. Fold the foil into a packet, creasing the seams so they’re steam-tight. Before you seal the packet, add about a quarter-cup of water. Set the packet in a baking pan and cook in the oven at 350F for about two hours. Yummy goodness :slight_smile:

Mrs. R says you can do it in the crock-pot, but it’s just not the same. Part of it must be the ritual of preparation.

Another twenty minutes to go, so I thought I just had time to bang out a description for the SDMB. You can envy me. :D. Now I’ve got to go set the table.

2

Sounds delicious! I agree with you, I’ve done pot roasts in my crockpot and they are never as good as they are in the oven.

3

But you won’t get that nice tasty crusty outside!

4

I cook roasts in bags sometimes. You could brown it before foiling or bagging up.

5

Have I been doing pot roasts wrong this whole time? They’ve always been a covered pot affair for me, so no crusty outside.

6

Sounds yummy.

Me, I use the pressure cooker, searing the outside of the roast nice and maillardly! In under an hour from start to finish I’ve got a roast that’s browned, falls apart, and everything is infused with the flavors of the meat, carrots, potatoes, onions, and spices. Add some corn starch to the liquid, and it’s gravy too!

7

I never made a decent pot roast until I read John Egerton’s absolutely vital SOUTHERN FOOD (1987). His is attributed to the Kentucky/Tennessee region, is cooked (unbrowned) in a low oven in an uncovered cast iron skillet, and IT IS THE SHIT. A Dutch oven works just fine, too.

8

A great alternative to standard pot roast is New Orleans-style Italian immigrant Creole Daube.

Put a chuck roast in a pot, purée enough canned tomato to cover it…adding lots of onion and garlic to the tomatoes in the food processor…season with salt and pepper. No herbs, no spices. Low simmer for 3-4 hours partially covered until the bright red sauce turns richly brown-red. Serve the sauce over schpagootz with plenty of grated Parm, and the sliced beef on the side.

You could also just throw the beef away, or feed it to the pooch. The sauce is THAT GOOD.

9

Please tell me…what’s schpagootz? I’m Italian and I don’t think I’ve ever heard that word, tho it sounds kind of familiar. My gramma called batter dipped and fried zucchini cacootz (hard c’s).

10

Doing a google search, there is only one return… from a post by Ukulele Ike in a 2016 thread. :stuck_out_tongue:

Must be a family term for something. Maybe what they call spaghetti?

11

I did and found the same thing!

12

It means “spaghetti.” I’ve never heard it before, but dollars to donuts it’s a cute way of saying spaghetti.

13

I used to live on Mulberry Street, in the heart of Manhattan’s Little Italy. It’s the goombah word for “spaghetti.”

14

The pot roast in foil with onion soup and cream of mushroom soup was a HUGE thing back in the…50’s? 60’s? Maybe earlier. It was raved about in the I Hate To Cook cookbook by Peg Bracken. I agree, it’s much better in the oven. A cold beef sandwich the next day with mayonnaise, salt, and pepper was almost as good. (I remember when I got married and I would cook a big chuck roast frequently, and it cost about $8 - $10. Today the price has easily doubled!)

15

From the people who call Capicola ‘gabbagool’. :dubious:

16

Second the pressure cooker method. If I did put it in the oven, I’d use a cooking bag well coated with flour. I don’t have a dish washer and anything that means fewer dishes is ok in my book.

17

In foil is the Good Eats method. Season 4 Ep 12 A Chuck for Chuck.

18

Bracken called it sweep steak. I just now caught the pun. Her books are fun reads.

19

Using foil sounds like a variation of hobo dinners, which uses ground beef patties. We only cook those when camping, but when done right they’re delicious. The key for them is to make sure there’s some liquid (just water) so the vegetables get steamed.

20

Try doing pot roast in an oven bag. It always comes out good, and browns nicely. I feel so retro using oven bags, (also use them for super-slow cooked pork butt), but they work, and are easy.