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wombat1138By the time we got back from our Thanksgiving visits, the local supermarket was out of deep-discount turkeys (except for one 16+ pound specimen that definitely seemed like Too Much Turkey), but they had boneless chunks of roast for a fairly good price (<$2/lb). Bought one of them and a large onion, then started rummaging around in the fridge/pantry to see what we still had left in there.
Diced the onion and two carrots while the meat was browning; after a while, poured a bit of oil into the pan to help the meat unstick. After the meat was browned on all sides, transferred it into the crockpot. Softened the diced veggies in the remaining oil/fat in the pan, then poured in about a dollar's worth of red Two Buck Chuckand brought it to a simmer while stirring with a wooden spoon to unstick any last meaty bits. Also stirred a small can of tomato paste and various herbs (thyme, sage, and oregano iirc; also some salt and pepper). Poured the hot liquid into the crockpot, set it on high (with a potholder over the plastic lid to weight/insulate it), and let it blurp away for a few hours. Ideally this would've been set up early enough to stay on low for a longer amount of time, but hey.
I definitely like the resulting texture: when hot, the meat falls apart into broad ropy bits when poked with a fork, so it still has some al dente quality instead of completely disintegrating. Flavor was okay, but not great-- next time, maybe salt/pepper the surface of the roast before browning, and add garlic and more tomato paste. Yesterday found a gallon jug of quasi-generic burgundy for even less than Two Buck Chunk, so there should be plenty of opportunity to keep experimenting this winter.
Diced the onion and two carrots while the meat was browning; after a while, poured a bit of oil into the pan to help the meat unstick. After the meat was browned on all sides, transferred it into the crockpot. Softened the diced veggies in the remaining oil/fat in the pan, then poured in about a dollar's worth of red Two Buck Chuckand brought it to a simmer while stirring with a wooden spoon to unstick any last meaty bits. Also stirred a small can of tomato paste and various herbs (thyme, sage, and oregano iirc; also some salt and pepper). Poured the hot liquid into the crockpot, set it on high (with a potholder over the plastic lid to weight/insulate it), and let it blurp away for a few hours. Ideally this would've been set up early enough to stay on low for a longer amount of time, but hey.
I definitely like the resulting texture: when hot, the meat falls apart into broad ropy bits when poked with a fork, so it still has some al dente quality instead of completely disintegrating. Flavor was okay, but not great-- next time, maybe salt/pepper the surface of the roast before browning, and add garlic and more tomato paste. Yesterday found a gallon jug of quasi-generic burgundy for even less than Two Buck Chunk, so there should be plenty of opportunity to keep experimenting this winter.