For those of you who follow me on Facebook, it's that time again:  Sunday's menu!  Today it's Italian Pot Roast and what I call Smothered Chicken.  Here are the recipes.  They are easy to prepare and basically you don't have to "watch" these cook.



Italian Pot Roast

Seasoning Rub:
salt
pepper
sage
rosemary

2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of the pot)
3 lb chuck roast or shoulder (cheap meat as I call it)
1 1/2 cups red wine
2 onions (medium to large)
2 celery stalks
2 carrots
28 oz can chopped tomatoes
2 large cloves garlic


Make your seasoning rub.  If you use dried sage and rosemary, be careful of the amounts because they are stronger tasting than fresh.  I use fresh sage and rosemary, chopped fine.  Mix it well.

Using a heavy pot, min 6 quarts, heat the oil over medium high heat.  Pat the meat dry.  Rub your meat, all sides.  When the oil is hot, sear your meat on all sides.  After a good crusting, take the meat out, place it on a plate.   If you haven't done so yet, slice your onions, dice your carrots and celery, chop your garlic.  While doing this turn down the oil so it will not burn. When you're done, turn up the oil until hot again.   If you've done it while the meat has been searing or beforehand, then add the onions to the oil.  Stir them, they'll start to soften and the little bits of meat sear on the bottom will come up.  Then add the celery carrots and garlic.  Stir until the veggies begin to soften, then add your wine and tomatoes.  Bring this to a boil and boil off the taste of alcohol, between 5 to 10 mins.  Then put in your meat and the juices from the dish, bring to a boil again.  Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low, cover and put on the back burner for about 3 to 4 hours or until the meat is fork tender.   At the end of cooking, if you need a little salt for the flavor to pop, add some - but only at the end.  You can also bake it on 300 if you want, although I've never tried that.    I plan to serve this with rice, but mashed potatoes would work, or egg noodles too.    Enjoy!!!!!




Smothered Chicken

Chicken Thighs or Legs or Backs or Wings (anything with a bone)
salt
pepper
paprika
2 tablespoons oil (any kind)
1 medium onion diced
1 stalk celery, sliced thin
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk

Pat the chicken dry, then season both sides with salt, pepper, paprika.  Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan (I use my "black" fry pan - cast iron) and brown the chicken on both sides.  While this is browning, dice the onion and slice the celery thin.  After the chicken is browned on both sides, add the celery and onion to the pan. Scatter it around for a bit, letting the onion get the flavors of the oil from the browning chicken.  Add the mushroom soup and milk.  Mix well in the pan.  When it starts to boil, lower the heat to medium low, spoon some mixture over the chicken for good flavoring, cover and cook until the chicken is done approximately an hour for meaty thighs.  For me, if the meat isn't moving away from the bone, I use a meat thermometer to test.  Boned chicken is done at 180 degrees.  Enjoy!!!!!


I hope you like these two recipes, let me know!    Thank you for reading this post!