My absolute favourite way of cooking when I’m flat out busy with life is anything that gives me my protein and veg all in the one go with as few dishes to wash as humanly possible. One pot dishes, slow cooker meals, and nights where Neil cooks are the greatest. Pot roasts absolutely fall into this category! So easy, so tasty, and so few dishes!

Roast beef is not a dish I grew up eating. I didn’t understand how they worked and I didn’t understand the appeal. But when Neil gives you 150 kilos of beef and then expects you to cook with it you have to learn to adapt. Thankfully, Neil’s dad David understands all aspect of English cooking and I bug him with all my questions.

Bolar roast is a family favourite. It’s a lean cut but it does have a nice layer of fat right on top and we get it back as a roast. I used the term roast loosely, it’s more like a giant 2-3kg chunk of meat. Neil likes his roast beef rare. I have never managed to cook him a rare roast beef. I’m still learning. 🙂

A lean roast with a nice fat layer on top.

I like to use a big enamelled cast iron pot for our pot roast. It’s big enough to fit a giant roast as well as all the vegetables. I start by searing the sides of the roast in the pot and putting it aside while I lightly brown the vegetables in the same pot lifting up some of the goodness left behind by the beef.

Browned and ready to go!

As always a mix of carrot, onion, celery, and as an added bonus potato!

The best part of a pot roast is that all my vegetables can go into the one pot. I went a little light this time on the vegetables only because I was craving colcannon as a side. By the way colcannon is mashed potato with cabbage and bacon. Greatest. Thing. Ever.

The vegetables make a nice bed for my beef to sit on and a little sprinkle of fresh thyme on top for funsies. It also tasty 😛

I’ve decided that I love beef fat. It makes my mouth feel nice and warm and cozy and I want to eat all the beef fat. If you can get a roast with a nice layer of on top it’ll be perfect for this pot roast. You can sit the beef on top of the vegetables and as the beef cooks and the fat renders down all those vegetables soak up the tasty tasty fat.

I put this roast in at 3pm at 180C with the lid on and I was thinking it would take 2 hours and I would have dinner ready by 6:30ish with some resting time of about a half hour. Just in case you’re wondering that math does not work.

My roast at the two hour mark.

At the two hour mark my roast had a temperature reading of about 45C that’s lower than the temperature it should be for rare beef. It had to go back in the oven. That was fine. I did get my math wrong anyway and I had about an hour spare. I put it back in the oven with the lid off, lid off means you get crispy beef fat on top. Did I mention beef fat is my favourite??

I may have cooked it for too long

Now the rest of the cooking of this particular beef roast got a bit hazy. We were a little busy. My beef roast stayed in the oven uncovered for a little longer than an hour. By the time I remembered to check the temperature it had hit 80C and apparently that’s more than what’s needed for well done. Oops. No rare beef roast for Neil again 😛

I grabbed it out and it rested for about an hour under alfoil and a tea towel. We fished the vegetables out of the pan and a gravy was made with the remaining goodness in the pot.

With colcannon and gravy. Yum!

The beef was a little overdone but it was still tasty. You can’t overcook beef fat. 🙂

Next time I’ll try and remember to check it more often in the last part of cooking or at least get someone else to check it. 🙂