Grandma Helen's Pot Roast, Noodles, and Gravy

When my brother and I were kids, we'd stay with my grandma Helen while my parents were at work.  Every once in awhile, we'd get to stay the night and my grandma would ask what we wanted for dinner and EVERY SINGLE TIME we said, "Pot roast, noodles, and gravy."  Here is how she made it.

INGREDIENTS:

• Chuck roast
• 3 medium yellow onions
• 1 package of baby carrots
• 1/2 a bottle of red wine
• 1-2 cups of water
• A sprig of rosemary
• A sprig of thyme
• Garlic salt
• Pepper
• 2 tbl extra virgin olive oil
• Wide egg noodles
• Flour

First thing's first, cut the onions in half and heat up your pan (I LOVE my cast iron pan, but any will do) with your 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.  Add the onions, stirring occassionally until a nice golden brown.  Remove onions and add the bag of baby carrots to the same pan.  You shouldn't need more oil, but if you do, add just a touch more.  Stir occasionally to get a nice brown.  Keep in mind, you're not wanting to cook all the way through, just enough to get color. Remove the carrots from the pan and set aside.

To prepare the chuck roast, season with garlic salt and pepper, to your liking,  Put the chuck roast in the same pan that you cooked the onions and carrots.  The goal is to get a nice brown color on both sides of the roast. 

Place the roast into your crockpot.  Top with the browned onions and carrots.  Use the wine to deglaze the pan and get all the yummy left overs that get stuck and pour over the crockpot goodness.  Add water if you need to add more liquid; you need the liquid to cover half of the meat.  Top with fresh rosemary and thyme.  Set on high for 6-7 hours and get on with your day.

When the timer goes off, cook the noodles, per the package.  Take out the pot roast, onions and carrots.  Remove and toss any excess fat from the meat, away.  I like to strain the juice that's left in the crock pot through a fine colander and then use it for the gravy.  Use the flour and some of the oil skimmed off the top of the juice to make a roux, to thicken the gravy to your liking.  

The best way to serve it is with the noodles on the bottom of a bowl, topped with the pot roast, carrots and onions.  Then drizzle the gravy on top.  MMMMMM...the result is one happy belly!