Beef Pot Roast in a Pressure Cooker

Are you among those lucky people who come home after church on Sunday to the aroma of pot roast from the oven? If you want a juicy, tender, flavorful meat dish, try using a pressure cooker. Beef Pot Roast prepared in a pressure cooker is one of my husband’s favorite meals.
 
 

Ingredients:
3 pounds beef pot roast
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
Salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to taste
2 cups beef broth or stock
3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp liquid smoke sauce
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 bay leaf
1 large yellow onion, cut in 1/2-inch slices
1 lb carrots (could use less according to your taste)
4 large potatoes
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Heat wide cast iron or other heavy skillet over high heat for about two minutes. Meanwhile rub both sides of meat with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.
2. When the pan is hot (really hot) brown meat on all sides to a crispy brown. (Will probably take 5 to 7 minutes on each side.) Pour broth, Worcestershire sauce and liquid smoke into cooker. Place roast on rack in cooker. Cover roast with onions and bay leaf.
3. Close cover securely. Place pressure regulator on vent pipe and cook 45 minutes with pressure regulator rocking slowly.
4. Let pressure drop of its own accord. (Could skip ahead to adding the vegetables as outlined in Step 7 without refrigerating overnight.) Thicken gravy, if desired.
5. If gravy is desired, stir 1 to 2 Tbsp of flour or cornstarch into 1/4 cup cold water. Heat cooking liquid in pressure cooker and slowly pour in flour mixture, stirring to blend. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly for 1 minute or until thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Here’s how I do the vegetables for this scrumptious one-pot meal. Back up to the point that I have seared meat in the pressure cooker on Saturday evening. That’s when I put a couple of sweet yellow onions into the hot pan used to sear the meat. They had been cut into half-inch slices, sprinkled with a little salt and were used to pick up the brown bits in the pan as they softened. After two or three minutes, I removed them from the pan and refrigerated them in a covered container. I had also peeled and cut about a pound of carrots (I like lots of carrots) into the size of baby carrots. The carrots were in a covered container of water, along with four scrubbed medium potatoes cut into one-inch slices, and refrigerated.
7. Going into the kitchen on Sunday after church, I removed the pressure cooker and containers of vegetables from refrigerator. First, I scraped off the hardened chunks of fat from the meat to discard. A few crumbles were left to give flavor. Then, the onions, potatoes and carrots were added to the cooker. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the veggies. May need to add about a half cup of water before putting the lid on the pressure cooker.
8. Place cooker on medium-high heat and bring up to pressure according to your manufacturer’s instructions. Use the quick pressure release method after only two minutes. Check the tenderness of the vegetables and return them to pressure for another 30 seconds or so, if necessary. Continue with Step 5, if gravy is desired. (Makes 6 servings.)

Hope you enjoy the beef pot roast with vegetables made in the pressure cooker for dinner on Sunday or anytime! Use the leftovers to make Vegetable Soup and/or Roast Beef Sandwich Spread.

Notes from Betty: Even budget cuts of meat that usually require slow, moist-heat cooking will turn out succulent and savory in very little time with a pressure cooker.

To cook frozen meats in a pressure cooker, thaw one half hour or more so that the surface of the meat will sear crispy brown. Then, increase the cooking times given in the recipes. Frozen beef, veal, and lamb should be cooked 25 minutes per pound. Frozen pork should be cooked 30 minutes per pound.

For meat, do not fill pressure cooker over 2/3 full! No portion of the meat should extend over the 2/3 full mark.