Swedish Pot Roast {Pressure Cooker or Slow Cooker Option}

The minute I saw this recipe for Swedish pot roast at ifoodTV, I knew it would be good. Bonus: It had a pressure cooker option. Now, if you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can use a slow cooker. Read on to get the recipe and also to hear about how I burned it–learn from my mistakes!

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 3-4 lb beef pot roast (chuck or brisket)
• 2 tbsp fat (I used olive oil)
• 2 onions, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1/2 C red wine (you can use any kind, I usually use something I can drink with dinner to finish the bottle)
• 4 bay leaves

Directions:

1. Combine the nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and pepper, and rub it onto the meat.
2. Melt fat in pressure cooker (if not using a pressure cooker, you can do this step in a heavy bottomed pan and transfer to slow cooker before proceeding to step 3) and brown the meat on all sides.
3. Add onions and garlic; dissolve the sugar in wine and pour over the meat. Add the bay leaves.
4. Cook 40 minutes at pressure given in pressure cooker instructions. OR, cook on high setting in slow cooker for 3-4 hours or low setting for 8-9.

The Verdict: OK so here’s where you can learn from my mistake. I wanted to make brussels sprouts and potatoes as a side dish. When cooking items of different cooking times in a pressure cooker, you list the ingredients in order of cooking time. So I new that the roast would take 40 minutes, potatoes (if I cut them into 1 1/2 inch slices) would be 6 minutes, and brussels sprouts would be 4 minutes. Since I didn’t want to go through bringing it up to pressure three times, I cut the potatoes about an inch thick and figured I could do those at 4 minutes as well. Then, I got the pot roast going and set the timer for 36 minutes (since I’d need to add the vegetables for the last 4 minutes).

As the pot roast was cooking, it smelled HEAVENLY. There’s something about cinnamon, nutmeg, wine, brown sugar, that mixed together in a savory way that was very appealing.

As I was reading through the pressure cooker manual while waiting for the cooker got to pressure (that’s what it’s called when the little indicator thingie pops up and steam starts coming out and you know it’s time to start the timer), I read that one needs 1/2 C of liquid minimum for meat. Hmm, I wondered, would the 1/2 C of wine be sufficient, considering that it was mixed in with the brown sugar? I reasoned that the roast would have juices that would add to the liquid when it started coming out.

At 36 minutes, I released the pressure, opened the cooker, and almost fell over, it smelled and looked so good. Perfect. I thought hmm, this is grassfed beef, I’ll bet I could do without the extra 4 minutes. But I want the vegetables. So I added them to the pot and brought it back up to pressure. Then, I started smelling a burning smell. Oh crap, I wonder if I should have added more water to accommodate the vegetables?

Yep. I should have. The beautiful caramelized wine and brown sugar was now a thick black glob at the bottom of the pan. Luckily, the non-burned part of the meat and vegetables was still edible. The char on the beef was even a nice touch – reminded me of the bark that DH tries to get when using his smoker. The flavor was still as awesome as it smelled, and I vowed to make this again soon only without trying to add in the vegetables.

This post shared at Real Food Wednesday, Kitchen Tip Tuesday, Swedish Pot Roast