SOUTHERN POT ROAST

I LOVE Sunday dinner! My family LOVES Sunday dinner. It is a BIG deal in our home. Our son and his family live next door and we all eat together every Sunday. I just LOVE it! There are usually 9 of us that eat together every Sunday, but now we've added a Summer guest, so it's 10. We always decorate the table in some fun way, seasonal or whatever strikes our fancy. And I've done that since my children were very small. My girls always got a big kick out of helping "decorate" the Sunday dinner table. We did a patriotic table for today.

This is what happens when you try to fit 18 people in my little dining room! LOL But we had a wonderful time with our guests today. You can't get to really know someone, when you only see them at church. But if you invite them over and sit down to dinner together and fellowship and laugh, THEN you really get to know them! This is how we did it. It was wall-to-wall people, but we all fit and had a fun time doing it! My Honey and I aren't in the pic. I was taking the pic and he was standing behind me making people smile! LOL That's our son & daughter in law & oldest daughter on the left. On the right are our guests, our youngest daughter and then other various and sundry friends and family members!

Anyway.... I'll usually fix roast chicken, ham, pork roast, a turkey or a nice beef roast (when I can find it on sale!). I was so thankful to the Lord when I did my shopping the other night. We had this new family from our church, over for dinner today, and I wanted to make Southern pot roast for them. When I got there, all the roasts were on clearance! WOOHOO! If you like beef that is fall apart tender, you have GOT to try this. It's DEElicious!

SOUTHERN POT ROAST

1 (3 - 4 lb) boneless chuck roast
1 tsp. Lawry's seasoning salt
Salt & pepper
2 Tblsp canola oil or olive oil
1 Tblsp beef bouillon granules
1 Cup thinly sliced onions
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 bay leaves
1 (10 3/4 oz) cream of mushroom soup
1/2 soup can of water
1 cup beef broth
2 Tblsp Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 350. Rub the roast with the Lawry's, salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large skillet and brown the roast, searing it on both sides. Place the meat in a roaster pan. Sprinkle the bouillon granules over the meat, and cover it with onions, garlic, and bay leaves. Combine the mushroom soup, half soup can of water, beef broth and Worcestershire sauce, and pour this carefully over the roast. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until fork tender. Remove and discard the bay leaves. If the gravy is not thick enough, remove the meat from the pan and pour the gravy into a saucepan. Bring it to a boil and thicken by adding a little flour mixed with cold water. I use a small Mason jelly jar for this. I fill it half way with cold water, add a couple tablespoons of flour, screw the lid on, and give it several good shakes. If there are any lumps in the thickening when I take the lid off, I fish them out with a fork. Pour slowly into the boiling gravy while stirring with a whisk.
Serve roast with mashed potatoes and gravy.

OPTIONAL: I have added mushrooms to this roast on several occasions and I don't know why I didn't today, because we all really like it that way! LOL Oh well, next time!