If you wanted a slow cooker pot roast recipe, I doubt you’d look here.  (I don’t do a lot of slow cooker.) Maybe you wouldn’t look anywhere; you’d just put your meat and vegetables together into the pot with your wine, broth, or herbs and turn it on.  That’s what I do on the occasions I make this meal.  I decided to blog it, though, because I had such good luck getting a big frozen piece of meat cooked and on the table quickly using a slow cooker.  No more excuses if you’ve forgotten to unthaw your meat and the morning has disappeared; you can still make a great no-watch meal in a short afternoon.  The rest of the time is yours to take a bath, watch the dogs sleep, read the paper, garden, call your daughter, or binge-watch Downton.  So put this one in your back pocket for when you need it…

(Below:  Right after the Super Bowl.  All worn out.

TRY THIS:

CHEDDAR MASHED POTATOES                                     Serves 6

• 6  large white, very well-scrubbed potatoes (about 3 pounds), cut into eighths**
• Kosher salt and fresh ground black or white pepper
• 1 tablespoon softened salted butter
• 1 cup grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese (I like Vermont–Cabot– or English Cheddar–a white cheese, if you can), plus a little extra for garnish
• 1/2 -3/4 cup hot milk
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onions (just greens is fine, but both the greens and white will work) or chives — See note below if serving meat over potatoes.

1. Place potatoes and 1/2 teaspoon salt with 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a 6-quart pot and cover with water–plus an inch or so.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are just tender.

2. Drain and put potatoes back in the hot pan with the butter and the cheese. Mash well and then stir in about half-cup of the milk.  Mash again, adding more milk if needed, until potatoes are moistened and tender.  Taste, adjust seasonings, and spoon into a bowl.  Garnish with green onions or chives, if using, and a little of the grated cheddar.

**I don’t peel these, but you’re welcome to if you’d like.  I like the texture of hand-mashed and unpeeled potatoes and am all over that fiber.

MEAL OPTIONS: Replace carrots in the slow cooker with butternut or acorn squash pieces.  Trade fennel for celery.  Skip the wine and use low sodium beef broth.

WINE:  Côtes du Rhône or another light red such as Pinot Noir or Beaujolais (not nouveau)

NEED MORE?  Green salad and crusty bread with butter are the quintessential accompaniments if you’re really hungry or have more people. You might like my Apple-Cheddar Green Salad with Spicy Honey-Apple Cider Vinaigrette.

DESSERT: Maybe none at all….  But if you need something:  Apples and cheese if you haven’t made the salad above.  If you have, try Pears with Stilton, and Walnuts.

USING UP LEFTOVERS TO MAKE A BEEF-VEGETABLE SOUP:

Sauté an onion, two chopped carrots, 2 chopped stalks celery, and a minced clove of garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil in a large soup pot over medium flame. Season with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper, a pinch of crushed red pepper, a teaspoon of dried thyme, a bay leaf, and 1/2 cup fresh minced parsley.  Cook until the vegetables are starting to soften.

Stir in 1-2 cups of chopped, well-trimmed leftover pot roast, all of the sauce or gravy,  1 15-ounce can of chopped tomatoes, two quarts of low sodium beef or chicken broth,  2 or more cups of water, and a few drops of hot sauce.  Bring to a boil.  Add two peeled and chopped potatoes, 1 cup of chopped cabbage, and two cups frozen mixed vegetables or fresh vegetables such as trimmed and chopped green beans, English peas, zucchini, etc.  Lower heat to a steady, but gentle boil, cooking until everything is tender. Stir regularly and add any leftover, cooked, and chopped vegetables from the slow cooker for the last 5 or 10 minutes to heat through. Pour in more water or broth if the everything isn’t floating very freely in the liquid.

Taste and adjust seasonings as needed, including hot sauce.  Serve hot with crusty bread for dunking.

Options: You can add a 1/2 cup (or more) of a very small pasta — such as tubetti or elbow macaroni– during the last 15 minutes of cooking or, if you’ve time, 1/2 cup barley, which takes 45 minutes.  If you’d like to use spinach, add it during the last five minutes.

STORAGE:  You can cool, put into containers with tight lids, and store in the refrigerator 2-3 days or in the freezer for 4-6 months. Label and date your soup! It freezes better without potatoes or pasta, if you can manage it. If not, it’ll still be a good dinner you didn’t have to cook that night.

Sing a new song while your beef cooks happily without you,

Alyce