Recipe: pot roast po’ boys

Pot Roast Po’ Boys

1/4 cup vegetable oil or margarine
1 (4- to 5-pound) boneless chuck roast
3 teaspoons salt and black pepper mixture
2 teaspoons Frank Davis Beef Seasoning
1 can Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 can Swanson’s Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet
2 tablespoons Italian flat leaf parsley, minced
2 loaves New Orleans French bread
2 cups shredded lettuce
3 tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 cup Hellmann’s or Blue Plate Mayonnaise
1/4 cup dill pickle slices
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

This is quite possibly the ultimate in recipe simplicity. Basically you heat the Dutch oven, you season and brown the meat, you pour the soup mixture over the top, and you slow roast the roast in the oven until it’s ready to fall apart. Sounds easy, huh. Here’s how it’s done step by step:

1. Take a 5-quart heavy Dutch oven, place it on the stove over medium-high heat, and drop into it about a quarter-cup of either vegetable oil or real margarine. (You want to avoid using the vegetable spreads-they contain a lot of water and air. Make sure the label says "margarine.")

2. While the oil is coming up to heat, sprinkle the beef thoroughly with both the salt and black pepper mixture (2:1 ratio, salt to pepper) and the beef seasoning. When the meat is completely coated, rub the seasonings in well with your hands. Then, using a couple of meat forks, ease the roast down into the Dutch oven and brown it uniformly on all sides until it turns nice and toasty. Take your time and do is right-it’s what seals the pores of the meat and keeps the juices locked inside.

3. When the roast is seared all over, remove it from the Dutch oven temporarily and set it on a platter. Then in a large bowl, whisk together until fully blended the mushroom soup and the chicken broth. When completely combined, pour it into the Dutch oven (now set to medium heat), take a wooden spoon, and deglaze the pot (being sure to scrape up all the bit of browned beef that may have stuck to the bottom).

4. At this point, bring to gravy mixture to a gentle bubble. Then ease the chuck roast back into the pot, baste it thoroughly with the gravy, put the lid on, slide the pot into a preheated 350 degree F oven, and bake the meat for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours until ultra-tender. The remainder of this recipe develops in the oven-do not open the oven, do not lift the lid, do not peek in the pot, do not stir?just leave it alone!

5. Finally, when you’re ready to eat, warm the po’ boy bread, slice it lengthwise, slather it down with mayonnaise, layer the shredded lettuce, tomato slices, and pickle chips on one half of the bread, then pile on the thinly sliced roast chuck on the other half! It should be sliced against the grain for best texture.

6. All that’s left now is to ladle on a generous serving of pot gravy over the beef, bring both halves of the French bread together, and cut them into sandwich-size portions. Serve alongside a frosty root beer and a stack of crunchy potato chips.

Chef’s Notes: To make your po’ boy the epitome of New Orleans dining, you might also want to splatter on a light sprinkling of shredded cheddar cheese between the two French bread halves.