Football and Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible's Pot Roast

There is no way around it.  I love football.  I am that person that believes there are four seasons in life - Preseason, Regular season, Post-season, and Off-season.  Sometimes I wish that I had been born a man so that I could have played football.  I am that person who when watching football with other people does not want to talk about anything else unless it relates to the game.  That drives me nuts!!  Go in the other room if you want to talk about fashion or makeup or heaven forbid, politics.  I have my own Fantasy Football team!  I love both college (Roll Tide) and professional football, but if I had to pick my favorite, it would have to be the NFL!!!

I was introduced to football when I was just 10 years old.  I would sit on the couch with my Dad, and we would watch and watch and watch football.  I think those were some of my most favorite times spent with him.  He would actually explain the game to me.  We watched the infamous "Heidi" game together in November of  '68.  It was the Raiders versus the Jets!  The Jets were leading 32-29 with just a minute and five seconds left on the clock.  The Raiders had the ball and were driving, NBC went to commercial, and when they came back, we were viewing the opening scenes to Heidi.  I hate that movie to this day because of that.  We later found out that the Raiders scored two touchdowns in nine seconds to beat the Jets 43-32.  WHAT??? 

I was watching Super Bowl III when Broadway Joe Namath predicted on Thursday that his lowly underdog New York Jets team would beat the Baltimore Colts and Johnny Unitas.  His prediction came true, and the Jets won 16-7.  Namath was crowned the MVP, and I officially at 11 years of age had a crush on Broadway Joe.  Oh goodness.

I was watching Super Bowl IV when the Chiefs and the Vikings matched up.  I found an entry in my diary that will attest to this fact.

I think it is funny how I crossed out the "not" on going to church.  Who knows!!  I guess I was for the Vikings that day as the Diary reads.  I do remember that I loved their quarterback Joe Kapp and the best defensive end of all times, the great Carl Eller. 
When Husband Fred and I started dating, I was excited to find that he loved football as much as I did.  One of the first things we did as a married couple was to buy season tickets to the Atlanta Falcons.  I can say that those were some of my most favorite times spent with Husband Fred driving back and forth to Atlanta cheering on the Falcons even though they were not that great.  We did make it to a play-off game one year, but we got beat by the Cowboys.  The ride home was really long after that one.  We had to sell those tickets when we moved to Arkansas.  It was sad times, but then along came the Tennessee Titans.  We put ourselves on the waiting list of over 30,000 people to purchase season tickets, and lo and behold, about 5 years ago, seats became available.  They are unfortunately in the last row of the upper deck but who cares!! It is a boisterous bunch up there.  It must be the lack of oxygen from being up in the clouds, but we cherish every moment we are there.  We kick-off the season tomorrow, and the Titans will need help.  We play the Patriots, and oh my goodness!!

Now on to the recipe.  I am still playing the Eeny Game with Paula Deen and her Southern Cooking Bible.  I tell you this is the best cookbook ever.  You must go buy it for yourself.  The Game chose her Lady and Sons Pot Roast, and this is by far, the best roast I have ever eaten.  You must make it this weekend.  It had so much flavor and it was so so so tender.  I wish I had some right now!

You will need a 3-pound chuck roast, onion, bay leaves, white wine, beef bouillon cubes, garlic, Paula's House Seasoning (which I will tell you how to make in a sec), and cream of mushroom soup.

Sprinkle the roast with Paula's House Seasoning.  It is a great all-around seasoning.  You mix 1 cup of salt, 1/4 cup of black pepper, and 1/4 cup of garlic powder.  I just mix a big batch of it and even give it away as Christmas gifts.  People love it!

Brown the roast on all sides about 5 minutes per side.

 Place the roast in the crock pot and cover it with soup, garlic and crushed bouillon cube mixture.

 Then add the sliced onion and bay leaves on top of the soup, and pour in the wine.  You add just enough water to cover the roast.

You take it out of the crockpot after about 8 hours. and it is the best thing you will ever eat.  PS I got a high five from Food Police for my choice of sides.  Yes that is HALF of a baked potato with Smart Balance spread and no fat sour cream.  

Here is your recipe......

The Lady and Sons Pot Roast

Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible



One 3-pound boneless chuck roast

1  1/2 tsps Paula Deen's House Seasoning

Salt and black pepper

Vegetable oil

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

3 bay leaves

3 or 4 bouillon cubes, crushed

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 C Chardonnay or other full-bodied white wine

Sprinkle the roast on all sides with House Seasoning.  In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until it shimmers.  Add the roast and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes  per side.

Place the roast in a slow cooker.  Place the onion, bay leaves, crushed bouillon cubes, garlic, and soup on top of roast.  Pour in the wine, and add just enough water to cover the roast.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  Remove and discard the bay leaves before serving.

Now go have a great day......