South Louisiana Style Pot Roast with Pics

I decided to make a pot roast over the weekend, and recalled a thread on the FDB a while back about the dark roast gravy many of our Cajun maw-maws made. Carson posted some pics in the thread of his version, which he got from his grandparents from Church Point, along with some notes on how they do it. I decided to use their method because I was intrigued by the addition of honey, which I’ve never used in a pot roast. It came out great! Thanks, Carson.

Ingredients:
-3-4# roast (I would usually use chuck, but I had a sirloin tip this time)
-AP flour
-1 tbsp honey
-1/2 stick butter
-2 large yellow onions, large dice
-1 bell pepper, large dice
-1 stalk celery, large dice
-5 large toes garlic, minced
-3 medium potatoes
-3 large carrots
-salt, black pepper and cayenne, to taste

The Process:

I got my helpers to do a rustic dice on my trinity. One helper also did a little sampling…


Season the roast liberally with salt and pepper, dust with AP flour, and drizzle with a touch of honey like Carson’s people.


Get your pot over medium high heat and add 1/2 stick butter.


Add your roast. Per Carson, “brown the hell out of the roast on all sides. it's gonna look and feel like you're burning it, but keep going. A strong browning session is critical and serves as the foundation for the whole thing.”


We’re getting there…


Here’s that nice fond we want, crusting the pot bottom. Pull your roast and set aside.


Add your trinity. As it gives off liquid, start scraping the pot bottom and deglazing.


Let the fond build again.


Deglaze with a little water and scrape the pot bottom again.



Keep repeating this until you get the color you want. The pic below was taken almost an hour after I first added the roast to the pot. I repeated the process probably 6 times or more. Don’t rush it. Your patience will be rewarded.


Add your garlic and cook until fragrant.


Add about 3 cups of water and scrape that pot bottom one last time.


I tasted the gravy and seasoned to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne. I decided to add potatoes and carrots, so I made things a touch saltier and spicier than I typically would.


Add the roast and its drippings back in the pot and cover. I preheated the oven to 350°, since braising is my preferred cooking method for a pot roast. Put the covered pot in the oven for ~3 hours or so until the roast shows signs it starting to get tender and breaking apart a bit.


I missed the pic, but I added my my prepped potatoes and carrots at this point and put the covered pot back into the oven for ~45 more minutes, while I cooked some rice.


Pull the pot and check everything. Season more, if necessary. Wish y’all could smell this!!!


Serve over rice, with a cold beer. Enjoy!