experimenting with the crock pot...

although we are having a heat wave, there is something about fall that seems like the perfect season to bust out the crock pot.  how nice would it be to come home from work on a chilly night to dinner ready and the house smelling fantastic.  i had a crock pot in college that i have never used, i am using it for the first time today!  my plan is to make a traditional pot roast dinner tonight and use the leftover meat for our own version of korean tacos.

here is what you need:

2 lb roast (we are using a tri tip roast)
1 can of beef broth
1 can of water
1/4 packet of onion soup mix
1/4 cup of bbq sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
pepper to taste

i have never done this before, but i don't think there is anything special to how all the ingredients go in the crock pot...i think you need to make sure you have enough liquid to cover the meat.

i am not a big fan of cooked carrots (so i left those out), but i did throw in 4 small whole potatoes.

i turned the pot on "auto" at 8am...i can't wait to see what surprise i come home to tonight.  i will serve the meat and potatoes with a side of squash and zucchini.

here is what the roast looks like after 9.5 hours of slow cooking...

jarad is a big fan of gravy!  i made a pan gravy for him.  i started by making a rue with 1 heaping tablespoon of flour, and 1 heaping tablespoon of butter, and combining until the flour is cooked through and it is not lumpy.  then i added about 3/4 cup of extra cooking liquid, dried thyme, and a few dashes of worcestershire sauce, and stir...depending on how you like the consistency of your gravy, you can adjust how much or how little cooking liquid you add.

serve...

not only was this my first attempt at using the crock pot, but it was also my first time cooking a roast.  there has always been something intimidating to me about cooking a roast, it is the ideal sunday night dinner your mom would make (effortlessly and perfectly everytime).  as a kid, this was one of my favorite dinners, we would actually call it "pot roast pig out."  i couldn't get enough of it, and would get a great laugh out of putting as much horse radish on it as i could before the tears would come.  i feel like i did a good job of replicating one of my favorite childhood dinners successfully.  stay tuned for our crock pot bonus meal...korean tacos!