My mother's pot roast was perfection. Like everything else she made, she took her time with every detail. Pot roast is pretty simple to prepare, but she had "the knack," as she would say. The meat was always fork-tender, the dark brown gravy always the right consistency and the flavor was aromatic with onions. Frankly, I don't know where she found "the knack." I'm still looking for it. The roast I braised in the oven this afternoon for tonight's dinner was passable, but it wasn't Mommy's, by a long shot.
I pulled the recipe from my recipe box. It is written on an index card in the carefully rendered penmanship she learned in the Old Country (Oslo, Norway), not copied from a cook book, but put down in her own words. I'm going to share it with you exactly as my mother wrote it. As you'll see, there may very well be reason for my inability to duplicate it... yet! There seems to be a cryptic and mystical secret I just haven't discovered yet that lies somewhere between the lines.
POTROAST.BOTTOM ROAST
Brown on all sides. 1 onion sliced 1 bay leaf + hole black pepper after water is poured in, let it cook for 2 hour on low heat. Take the meat out and strain the juice for gravy
For gravy. Mix 1 tblspoon flour with water until smooth and add slow to boiling meatstock.
P.S. Salt and pepper to tast + little flour to cover the meat.
Good luck.*That is it -- Misspellings and all! One thing I would like to add is that I remember my mother buying a bottom round rump roast for this. I have used that cut and it works quite well and resembles what she made. Let me know if you want to try this and have any questions.
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