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Pot Roast, Carrot Gravy
Wipe 4 to 6 lbs. From middle or face of rump or round of beef. Sear all over in frying pan, turning in hot fat till well browned. Place in potroasting kettle with 1 cup hot water, and simmer until tender, replacing water as it cooks away. A steamer or waterless cooker is ideal for potroasting. Keep cover on tight. After cooking 1 hour, add salt, pepper paprika and 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce. Half hour before serving add 1 cup grated carrots. When done, make the gravy of the stock in pan, leaving the carrots in it.
A plain braise with one unusual touch: the thickening comes from grated carrot rather than flour. Everything depends on a tight lid and a long, low simmer.
- The vesselA "potroasting kettle" is a heavy lidded pot -- a Dutch oven is the direct equivalent. The "waterless cooker" of the period was a thick-walled pan with a close-fitting domed lid designed to trap steam; a well-fitting Dutch oven does the same job.
- The cutRump and round are lean, sinewy cuts that need hours to break down. "Face of rump" appears to mean the flat cut surface of the rump section, though the term is not standard. Chuck or brisket will give a juicier result if your butcher has no rump roast.
- TimingThe recipe gives none. Reckon 3 to 4 hours for 4 to 6 lb at a bare simmer. Do not cook to a temperature reading -- braises are done when a fork twists out with no resistance, around 200-205F internally, well past any doneness scale.
- Heat levelSimmer means barely trembling, not bubbling. If you prefer the oven, 300F with the lid on holds the liquid steady with no attention. Lift the lid as seldom as possible; each time you do, you lose the steam that is doing the work.
- Salting lateThe recipe holds the salt until after the first hour; there is no cooking reason it must be done that way. Salting the surface before searing seasons the meat more evenly and does not toughen it.
- The carrot gravyOne cup of grated carrot, cooked half an hour in the braising liquid, collapses and thickens the stock into a light, faintly sweet sauce. Skim the fat first, then reduce or mash the carrot against the side of the pan if you want it thicker; no flour is called for and none is needed.
- Water replacementKeep roughly a cup of liquid in the pot throughout. Top up with hot water or stock, never cold, so the simmer does not stall.
- YieldA 4 to 6 lb roast serves eight to twelve, so leftovers are likely.