One of my awesome blog followers, Erin, was asking if I have any slow cooker recipes. I told her it was so funny that she asked because I had just been going over recipes trying to find a slow cooker recipe to post! I love the convenience, versatility and fantastic results you can get with a slow cooker. So, here goes…
Being in the radio business sometimes feels like working under the big top. It’s never the same show twice, you meet lots of interesting characters, you move around a lot, and you never know when you’ll be asked to ride an elephant…I did ride one in 1999 by the way. Among the characters/great friends we met, was a radio veteran in Augusta, Georgia. His name was Jon..we knew him as Mark…and he was an admirer of a vintage Mercedes, a classic southern home, fine wine and gourmet cooking. We both did morning radio shows on different stations owned by our company in the same building. Truthfully, by the time we met him, he was starting to tire of the crazy business. But that gave him a wonderfully sarcastic edge to his already sharp wit. He relished any chance to wander away from his show and into our studio next door to entertain us, off air of course. He was one of the funniest people we ever met, and whenever we had a moment to visit with him, he would tell us the best stories…I think most of them were true…and those days were some of the best laughs I can remember. We listened to him tell stories about radio and people from his past, his love of antiques and food, and his engagement to a girl who was forcing him to seek out an English tudor money pit to “invest” in. He invited us over several times for amazing meals he cooked from scratch. It was always a treat. He and his fiancee had a wonderful engagement brunch with shrimp and grits and all the trimmings, and they hosted a beautiful couples shower when my hubby and I had our son. When you went to John’s home, you knew you’d eat and drink well and laugh ’til your stomach hurt. He knew I loved to cook, and sometimes he would scribble down recipes for me. This is one such recipe. He jotted it down on the backside of a weather forecast we were reading on the air. As you can see, it was a cold day that was perfect for a hearty roast! The tomato, brown sugar and cider vinegar based sauce creates a rich, tangy and sweet concoction that will remind you of a yummy barbecue sauce.
His directions said to cook for 3 hours on stovetop. I decided to convert it to a slow cooker recipe for a convenient workday meal.
All the yummy goodness in the slow cooker just before the lid went on…
Four hours later…yummmmm!
Ingredients
- 3 lb chuck roast
- 2 T vegetable oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 can tomato paste
- 1 can tomato sauce
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 T Worcestershire sauce
- 3/4 tsp. dry mustard
- 2 bay leaves
- chopped fresh parsley
Directions
Sear roast in vegetable oil in large pan. Remove and place in slow cooker. In same pan, saute onion and garlic until onion starts to soften. Remove from pan and add to slow cooker with roast and the rest of the ingredients through bay leaves. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-7 hours until fork tender. Add parsley at end of cooking. Serve over rice or pasta, or with your favorite mashed potatoes!