Roast Dinner

Last weekend my mum and brother came to visit and we got a belated Christmas present - a cast iron crock pot. Ever since I have been itching to use it! It is shiny and red and it can go on the cook top or in the oven and is just marvellous. Tonight I finally had some time to try it out and thought I would make a roast dinner. We had some pumpkin that Nath got from a friends garden, some potatoes and so all we needed was the meat! For some bizarre reason I decided to buy a nearly 2kg piece of meat for just the two of us (I can see many roast beef sandwiches in my future) and fortunately it fitted in my pot! 

I like my roast fairly simple, just some pepper and garlic really. Here is my recipe:

Ingredients ~

• a cut of beef for roasting
• olive oil
• cracked black pepper
• bay leaves
• garlic cloves
• red onion, cut in quarters
• 1/2 cup water
• potatoes, cut in half
• pumpkin, cut in chunks
• tomatoes, quartered
• baby spinach
• balsamic vinegar

To Cook ~

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
• Put the pot on the cook top over medium heat. Place the meat in and drizzle oil over it. Season with pepper. Brown all sides of the meat to seal in the juices.
• Add some bay leaves (I used 2), garlic cloves (I used 3) and a whole red onion to the pan. Add some water so there are some cooking juices and then transfer the pot to the oven. 
• How long you bake the meat depends on how you want it cooked. These instructions are for medium-well done (cooked through with a pink blush in the centre of the roast). It also depends on the size of the roast. For medium well done it is 30mins for each 500g. 
• Cook the meat for about half the cooking time and then turn and add the potato and pumpkin at the same time. Continue cooking until the meat is done. If the vegies aren't quite there yet remove the meat from the pot and continue cooking the vegies until done. 
• When there is only 1mins until the meat and vegies are done put the tomatoes skin side down in a pan over medium heat. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5mins and then add two handfuls of baby spinach. Wilt the spinach and then remove the pan from the heat. 
• Serve and enjoy :)