Mississippi Roast

Mississippi Roast

I'm not sure if this is really from Mississippi, but that's the name, so....

This is one of those recipes that has been floating around on social media for a while. I never really thought I would try it; no special reason for this, it was just something that was never on my radar, even though I had heard of it.

Then, a friend and co-worker mentioned that they had tried it, and the praise for this dish was very high, both in terms of ease of preparation and in flavour. I happened to have a chuck roast in the refrigerator, so I decided to give it a go; I am very glad that I did, and suspect that you will be too, if you try it.

There are a few minor variations, but here is a typical recipe that we used:

Mississippi Roast Ingredients One 3- to 4-pound boneless beef roast, your choice of cut (see note below) 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter 1 package au jus gravy mix 1 package dry ranch dressing mix, such as Hidden Valley Sliced pepperoncini peppers, number to your liking, and a little juice from the jar Salt and freshly ground pepper, if desired Put the roast in a slow cooker. Add the butter, au jus gravy mix, ranch dressing mix and the pepperoncini peppers with some of the juice. Add salt and pepper if you like and cook on low until tender, about 8 hours. Cook's Note - Sometimes we use chuck roast, sometimes sirloin tip, sometimes rump. Sometimes we sear it. Sometimes we don't. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mississippi-pot-roast-3517283

The thing about this recipe is that it seemed almost too easy; also, I'm not usually squeamish about such things, but the amount of the butter did indeed concern me a bit (a whole stick!) Nevertheless, I gave this a try, using a beef chuck pot roast in the neighbourhood of 4 pounds and about 2/3 of a 16-ounce jar of sliced pepperoncini peppers.

With my decision to give it a go, I abandoned all control and put my faith in the recipe. The preparation was as easy as can be: a few peppers and a little bit of each seasoning mix on the bottom of the slow cooker - along with a pinch each of salt and pepper and a few slices of pepperoncini (and juice). Then, the roast, with a bit more salt and pepper. Finally, the majority of each seasoning packet, the stick of butter (I sliced it into about 6 sections and placed them across the top of the roast) and some more of the pepperoncini, with some more juice.

That was all there was to it! I set the crock pot to "Low" and left it alone for the next 8 hours.

It wasn't terribly long before the house began to smell good - really good - and it just kept getting better as the day went on. I realized then that we were indeed going to have something pretty special. By the time it was ready, everyone in the family was salivating at the chance to give it a try, but I decided to add one more step.

I removed and de-fatted the cooking liquids, then reduced them down on the stovetop perhaps by half while the roast rested in the slow cooker. The liquids thickened just enough to become an incredible, rich sauce/gravy that went extremely well with the fork-tender, flavourful beef and the Brussels sprouts that were served on the side. The family and I were extremely impressed with this, and we most certainly plan to make it again, and often.

Two things:

We did discover that with the salt in the packages of au jus and ranch dressing mix that additional salt is simply not necessary. When we prepare this from now on, we will omit any added salt, but will definitely add some black pepper.

The Beautiful Mrs. Tas found it to be just a tad spicy for her, so next time I will cut back on the pepperoncini a bit - maybe half a jar, rather than 2/3 of a jar.

I am sure that a few simple things could improve this recipe, such as perhaps searing the roast and adding some sliced onions; but in all truth it is absolutely wonderful just as it was prepared, and there honestly isn't any real need to improve it.
I do recommend trying this - it was, to me, much more than the sum of its parts. If you give it a go, please be sure to report back on what you think of it.

Ron

Hello - and yes, this is good, indeed! It could very well have originated under a different name, but you know how that goes, sometimes.

I usually cut back on the mixes because of the salt bomb it becomes with full packets.

You make a good point here, and I should have mentioned it in my opening post. We did discover that with the salt in the packages of au jus and ranch dressing mix that additional salt is simply not necessary. On our next preparation, we will omit any added salt.

I'll edit my opening post to reflect this - but yep, it's good!

Tom - I could easily see this with some crusty rolls, making an extremely wonderful plate of sandwiches!

The Beautiful Mrs. Tas and I are really liking it; we've tried it with pork roast and also with a whole chicken, with great results every time.

On January 27th, we decided that we would prepare this roast for supper, but it was already early afternoon when we made this decision! What to do!

Instant Pot to the rescue ~

We wanted to make a big batch so that there would be leftovers, so to prepare this roast in our Instant Pot, I used a rump roast that was just under 5 pounds. I cut it into large chunks (about 2 inches x 3 inches), and then seared the chunks for a little extra flavor. The Instant Pot does have a "Sear" function, but I love my cast iron too much not to use it.

I tossed the chunks into the Instant Pot as I seared them, then sautéed a chopped onion in the same pan. Once the onions were translucent, I tossed them all into the Instant Pot as well. I then de-glazed the cast iron with a little beef stock, lifting the brown bits from the pan, and tossed the de-glazing liquid - about 1/2 cup - into the pot.

I threw the rest of the ingredients into the Instant Pot and set it to pressure cook for 45 minutes. Once the pressure cooking was done, I let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes and then took a look at the result.

One word: delicious!

The chunks were completely tender and came apart very easily. There was more liquid than expected, so the result was more like a soup, which was just fine as far as we were concerned. Many of the online recipes call for thickening the liquid into a gravy, but we chose not to do so and simply served it in bowls. The flavour of both the beef and the stock was spot-on, easily as good as our previous cooking it in a slow-cooker and absolutely wonderful on a cold winter day.

We'll be doing this again - I'm trying to think of ways to "improve" on the way I did it in the Instant Pot, but there really isn't anything I would do different, except possibly cut the roast into smaller chunks.