In The Kitchen: Put a lid on it

Every kitchen should have a slow cooker or Crock Pot. This week’s recipe took about five minutes to prepare and another five minutes to dish it up the next evening.

As an added advantage, the whole house smells wonderful when you walk in from work -- geAtting those taste buds ready for a delicious family dinner of "meat and potatoes."

With the Crock Pot Roast recipe, I often get questions about the cut of beef to use. I don’t know a whole lot about different cuts of meat, but I have learned something that might give you the desired results.

If you want a roast you can slice and use for sandwiches later on, choose a "long fiber" roast, such as a bottom round roast or eye of round roast. These roasts are slightly tougher than a chuck roast, for example. The chuck roast can be cooked in the slow cooker as well, but it will fall apart and be very tender and not "sliceable."

Any of the roasts are great for the slow cooker -- chuck roast, brisket, rump roast, eye of round, top roast or bottom round, but they will cook up slightly differently.

Crock-pot Roast

1 medium roast (I always buy a medium even though there are only two of us so we can have leftovers)
3 to 4 large potatoes, quartered
1 small bag of baby carrots
1 onion, halved or quartered
2 to 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 cup water

Lay the onion pieces in the bottom of the slow cooker. Place the roast on top of the onions. Layer potatoes on top of roast.

Pour the carrots over the top of the potatoes, and dot them with 2 to 3 tablespoons of butter or margarine.
Salt and pepper, to taste.

Add water. Cover and turn slow cooker to high for a large roast, low for a smaller one. A medium roast can cook on high for 8 hours and be tender and ready to serve.

Add brown-and-serve rolls and a pasta salad, and you’ve got a great dinner.