Pancakes and Pot Roast

What could be more classically American than Pancakes and Pot Roast?

My husband is the chief pancake chef around here and he is excellent!   When we were first married we tried the mixes and felt let down.  They just didn't taste like mom-used-to-make.  My husband set out to find a good recipe and was very successful.  We haven't looked back since. Until......I saw the recipe for Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes in the PW cookbook.  I needed to get to it anyway, but anything with sour cream cooked into it intrigues me deeply and the pile of imperfect perfection in the photo made my mouth water.

Last Saturday was the day.  I went ahead and doubled the batch because it claimed to make about twelve 4 inch pancakes.  Since we have 7 people I thought we'd at least like 2 a piece.  The doubled recipe barely squeaked out 2 a piece.  I even measured the batter as I poured.  Next time I would triple the batch.

But other than the amount produced, there was nothing disappointing about these imperfect looking beauties.  They were absolutely delicious!  Everyone (including the chief pancake maker) couldn't contain their pleasure as they partook.  

The one little caution would be that they don't show their level of "doneness" like traditional pancakes with the air bubbles showing before you flip.  Instead, you have to really pay attention to the amount of time per side.  It is well worth the trouble.  

Right after the breakfast dishes were cleaned up, I went to work on the pot roast for dinner.   If you are like me, you have fond memories of the pot roasts of your youth but they seem to elude you as an adult.   I have pulled off a handful of decent roasts, but it seems like they are so easy to dry out.  It's pretty disappointing to endure the tantalizing smell of it cooking all day only to bite into slightly beef flavored saw dust in the end.    It is not so at all with this recipe.  There was no disappointment whatsoever.  It was bliss served up on a plate.

I think a couple of the keys to the success of this recipe are that 1) you brown the onion and carrots before adding them to the pot.  This gives them an incredible flavor.  And 2) you add 2 -3 cups of beef stock to the pot at the beginning and it yields moist, tender results.

We all agreed that this was the best roast we'd maybe ever had.  ( I say "maybe" because we are all susceptible to hyperbole in the face of sheer yumminess.)  If you've given up on making a really good roast, I say "not yet"!  You've got to give this one a try!   I know the Sunday dinners of my future are looking promising.