Mississippi Roast

I spotted this on the internet a few years ago.  It came with a bunch of hype so I’ve kind of delayed trying it until now.  Yesterday I put the second blanket back on the bed and realized it was time for hardy food.

This recipe caught my eye due to the simple explanation of how the recipe became a part of her family’s meal plans.  You know I like simple, you know I like easy, you know I like all in one pan.  Gluten-free girl was up this weekend and I decided she would be the final arbitrator.  It turns out just because you don’t like gluten doesn’t mean you can’t love all things meat.  I have a tendency to equate gluten-free with vegetarian and that is so not true.

So, as the story goes, fifteen or so years ago, by her recollection, a woman named Robin Chapman made a pot roast in her slow cooker.  Now known as Mississippi Roast, it would eventually become one of the most popular recipes on the web, an unlikely star with unlikely ingredients.

Ms. Chapman lives in Ripley, Miss., but she did not call her pot roast Mississippi Roast, not then and not now. She just calls it “roast.” She used beef chuck to make the dish that first time, and put a packet of dry ranch-dressing mix on top of the meat, along with a packet of dry “au jus” gravy, a stick of butter and a few pepperoncini. It was an on-the-spot variation of a recipe she had learned from her aunt, which called for packaged Italian dressing. Ms. Chapman wanted something “milder,” she said, so she swapped out the Italian for the ranch.  She set the slow cooker to low and walked away. Some 8 hours later, her family dived into their meal with glee. She has made the roast ever since.

I made it for the first time today.  Cowabunga, we all went crazy for it.  Even me, the non-meat eater enjoyed it.  This is going to become a tried and true recipe in my rotation.  It took longer to find the crockpot in the garage than it did to put together the roast.  And, if you have any left, it makes incredible French Dips.  Oh yes!

1 (3 to 5 pound) chuck roast

1 packet ranch dressing or Italian dressing mix

1 packet au jus gravy mix or dry onion soup mix

1 cube butter

8 pepperoncini

Pat roast dry and brown both sides for approximately 3 minutes each.  Place meat in slow cooker.  Add all remaining ingredients on top of roast.  Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.  Shred meat with 2 forks and serve.

and remember what Winston Churchill said:   Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.  Big kiss, Lynn