Pot Roast

Well this was a Paula Deen recipe, and Paula while I love ya, I had to adjust the fat and salt.  You can see her original recipe by clicking on the title of the recipe, but here you see my measurements.  Basically I cut the oil and bouillon cubes in half.  Just thinking about 4 bouillon cubes and a can of condensed soup should be tons of salt.  I can always add more but it is a huge pain to try and remove too much salt!  I also didn't make her salt, pepper and garlic blend; I just eyeballed each individual ingredient when seasoning the meat.  Oh and when I finished browning the meat, (in a non- nonstick pan:) I poured out the oil and deglazed the pan with a couple of splashes of a low sodium broth I had in the fridge.  (chicken this time)  I decided to make a pot roast because the chuck roasts were on sale at Publix and my husband like pot roast.  I usually find it too fatty a cut of meat.  Well fast forward 8 hours.  The meat is tender and done, the broth thin and watery.  Ok I did leave out the extra bouillon, I added one more to make it 3, but it is still watery.  I decide to make a slurry with some flour and water. (lets say 1/4 c flour)  Now I mix it in and crank it up to high with the meat removed.  After it seems to be smooth and the flour has boiled enough to to it's thickening thing, I remove the lid to hope evaporation will fix the sauce/ gravy/ juice depending on what it ends up and is tasty. It isn't reducing fast enough, so I pour the contents of the crock pot through a strainer and just boil the heck out of the liquid.  Finally it resembles sauce as opposed to soup.  It was alright.  The men seemed to like it, so goal accomplished.

Pot Roast

1    (3-pound) boneless chuck roast
salt, fresh ground pepper and granulated garlic
1/8 c  vegetable oil
1    onion,thinly sliced
3    bay leaves
3  beef bouillon cubes crushed
2    garlic cloves,crushed
1    (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c  Chardonnay
1/4 c flour (optional)
Sprinkle roast on all sides with house seasoning. Using a skillet
over high heat, sear roast until brown in oil. Place roast in a slow
cooker, and layer onions, bay leaves, crushed bouillon cubes, garlic,
and cream of mushroom soup. Add the Chardonnay and cover with enough
water to cover all of the ingredients. Cook on the low setting for 8
hours.
(optional)
Remove meat, strain liquid into a sauce pan.  Over medium high heat, stir.  In a small, lidded container, put a about a 1/4 cup of flour and enough water to dissolve it into.  Put the lid on and shake vigorously.  Add the slurry to the contents of the liquid and cook, stirring occasionally until desired thickness.  Adjust seasoning as needed.