Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Ode to a Healthy Throat

Does it ever feel like everything is happening to you all at once? I kind of got a "when it rains, it pours"(#mortonsaltgirl) situation going on over here... I won't go into too much detail, but suffice it to say that at the top of my list is the fact that I had my tonsils removed last week.

I'll preface this by saying that yes, I know that there are worse things that could befall someone but this friggin' sucks y'all. It is definitely a necessary evil as I have become the unwilling dance partner of strep throat and tonsillitis since last November AND I am off my dad's insurance next month....so my tonsils needed to get got.

So here I am, 6 days post op and starving with the world's worst sore throat #poorme. My diet since Wednesday has consisted of no actual solid foods so I've been downing cottage cheese and apple sauce like it's going out of style (I actually love cottage cheese so there's that #littlethings). Because of this, I find my mind drifting to a meal I had last week and wishing that I could eat it all over again without fear of solid food scraping the poor ghosts of tonsils past.  So last Monday night, my sweet younger brother, who is a college student in Tacoma, requested that I make him dinner. How could I say no?! I love to cook and he only knows how to make a few staples (french toast, pasta, fried eggs) so I decided on a hearty pot roast with mashed potatoes and salad. Perfect for rainy, October weather.

The term "comfort food" to me has layered meaning--we all have our favorite foods that we ate as kids that made us feel happy, safe, or cheered us up after a rough day. But another layer to this comfort, for me, is the actual preparing of the food. The chopping, the sautéing, the searing, and the garnishing. Being creative and artistic with the presentation and the cooking process. The taking raw ingredients and turning it into a meal that can nourish and comfort someone I care about is where I find the most comfort.

Another thing I love about a dish like pot roast is that there is no one way to make it. I learned by watching my mom make hundreds of pot roasts for us growing up. The smell of olive oil and bay leaf would fill our house and we would wait with rumbling tummies for dinner time.

Now let's talk about parsley-- I have a distinct memory of having breakfast at a restaurant with my family when I was very little. I had eggs and hash browns and on the side of the plate, as a tiny garnish, was a small sprig of curly parsley. Disgusted, I asked my mom what it was and requested that she take it off my plate. She did and proceeded to eat the sprig of parsley and I sat confused. It's a silly memory but these days I freaking love fresh parsley and often find myself sampling the raw stuff in the midst of chopping and it always reminds of that breakfast. It brightens most meat and seafood dishes flavor-wise and not to mention looks so pretty and rustic roughly chopped and sprinkled on top of your finished product.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the recipe below and find comfort in the preparing and eating of it. Happy Fall, Y'all. :)


Comforting Fall Pot Roast

1 beef pot roast*
1/2 head of celery, roughly chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped
6 medium carrots, roughly chopped
2 bay leaves
1/2 bunch fresh Italian parsley, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tbsp herbs de provence
2 cups water, more or less based on roast size
salt & pepper throughout to taste
olive oil throughout
*mine was almost 3 pounds... it depends on how hungry your brother is :)


How to...


  • Place a heavy pot, such as a dutch oven, over high heat and drizzle some olive oil in the bottom-- enough to make a thin layer. While the pot is heating, remove your pot roast from its packaging and pat dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle all sides generously with salt and pepper and the herbs de provence-- press the spices into the meat to ensure that as much as possible sticks to it. Place the meat in the hot pan and sear all sides until a crust forms (2ish minutes per side).
  • After the roast is seared, remove it from the pan and let it rest on a plate while you cook the vegetables. Lower the heat to medium or medium high, depending on your stove, and add a little more olive oil and the onion--cook until almost translucent, then add the garlic, half of carrot, and half of the celery to the mix. Cook until the carrots and celery turn a bright orange and green.
  • Deglaze the pan with 1/4 of the water to get all the good crust off the bottom of the pot, using a wooden spatula to scrape with. Add the meat back to the party and throw in the bay leaves while you're at it. Add half of the remaining water and lower heat to low and cover with the lid ajar. Allow to simmer for about an hour on low heat, stirring occasionally. Continue to add water little by little throughout cooking as the liquid reduces. About 30 minutes into the simmering, add the remaining carrots and celery the the pot.*
  • When the roast is done, at long last, turn off the heat, remove bay leaves, and remove the meat from the pot. Allow to rest for at least 10 minutes on a cutting board before slicing and pouring the delicious veggies and sauce over it and sprinkle the rest of the chopped parsley over the top. Serve immediately over mashed potatoes or rice. Enjoy!
*The reason I add the rest of the chopped celery and carrot at this point is because I like the variety of textures of the well done veggies with ones that are a bit less cooked. They still have a little bite to them.

No comments:

Post a Comment