"Gary" > wrote in message ...
> dsi1 wrote:
>>
>> Gary wrote:
>> > Oh wow mom, bet you the family couldn't wait for a pot roast
>> > dinner. ;-o
>> > Individually chosen frozen dinners would be better and timed to
>> > eat while watching Judge Judy.
>>
>> My mom was a very smart woman. As I got older I took over the dinner
>> preparation. The mechanism and implementation for this was not known to
>> me and happened so slowly as to be imperceptible to my developing brain.
>> I would come home from school and make a pot roast. The pressure cooker
>> made it very fast. I have a lot of fondness for them. The ignorant will
>> dis this vessel because well, that's what the ignorant do best.
>
> My teasing here of pot roasts truly comes from my ignorance. I've
> never had a good one so I've never been tempted to waste my time
> and food to make one.
>
> That said..... over time I've seen many pot roast pics here and
> they all look so good. BTW, your's looked very good too.
>
> Anyway, I've spotted the main problem with all the ones I've
> had.....neither Mom or 'The wife' ever thickened the liquid after
> cooking. I know there's a good bit of beef flavor there. All I
> got was a spoonful of the water on the plate. The meat was
> shreddable and bland, those large cuts of potatoes and carrots
> were...blah. No butter offered for the vegetables. Never a meal
> to look forward to.
>
> I suspect that flavorful water, thickened a bit and turned into a
> gravy would make all the difference.
>
> I do absolutely love my homemade beef stew and isn't that about
> the same thing just smaller pieces of everything? And I do
> thicken a bit with flour before or cornstarch at the end.
>
> oh well

Trader Joes has a really good, precooked roast beef. You have to come up
with the sides.