Bloody Mary Pot Roast with Fall Veggies, YUM

I love pot roast and I love Bloody Mary's so why not combine the two for one delicious slow cooked dinner. The recipe calls for arm roast, but I substituted a chuck roast because they were on sale. This recipe also calls for fall veggies such as leeks and rutagas, but I did not have either so I substituted onion for the leeks and potatoes and carrots for the rutabaga. I must confess that I have never tried a rutabaga, but I'm not opposed to the idea. I don't really think the name of this veggie is really doing it any favors though, it just sounds yucky. I do remember as a kid my Grandma Spellings talking about "rutabager pie" I was thinking to myself that ain't no pie I wanna try!! This recipe seems like a lot of steps but it really wasn't hard to put together and it was worth it.



Bloody Mary Pot Roast With Fall Vegetables
Serves Approx 8 people
Ingredients
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 -4 lbs boneless beef arm roast, seasoned with kosher salt and black pepper
• 1/2 cup low sodium beef broth
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle vegetable juice cocktail (V8)
• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 leeks, sliced
• 3 ribs celery, sliced into 2-inch pieces
• 1 rutabaga, cut into 2-inch chunks (1 lb.)
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, leaves
• 2 tablespoons vodka
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• hot pepper sauce
• kosher salt
• black pepper
• celery leaves (optional)
Directions
1. Heat oil in a saute pan; brown roast on all sides in hot oil over med-high heat, about 12 minutes total.
2. Remove roast from pan; place meat in a 5 to 6 quart slow cooker.
3. Deglaze the pan with broth, scraping up brown bits.
4. Stir in vegetable juice, horseradish, celery seed, and bay leaf; pour mixture into slow cooker.
5. Arrange leeks, celery, rutabaga, and bell pepper on top of meat.
6. Cover slow cooker, cook until meat and vegetables are tender—on high heat setting for 4-5 hours, or on low heat setting for 9-10 hours.
7. Using a slotted spoon, remove meat and vegetables to a serving platter; cover and keep food warm.
8. Transfer juices from slow cooker to a saucepan; skim off fat.
9. Stir cold water into flour; stir flour mixture into juices in sauepan; cook over medium heat until gravy is thickened, 2 minutes.
10. Stir parsley, vodka, and vinegar into gravy in saucepan.
11. Season gravy with hot pepper sauce, salt, and pepper.
12. Serve gravy over pot roast, vegetables, and noodles (if desired).
13. Garnish each serving with celery leaves.