Java Roast CrockPot Recipe

Day 313.

Nancy emailed me this recipe at the beginning of this week, and since I had everything in the house, I plopped it in the crockpot yesterday.

This is a fun roast! The coffee really tenderizes the meat, and it becomes fork-tender than other roast recipes. I tweaked her original recipe according to what we had in the pantry, and was pleased with the results.

Adam and I ate ours with a spinach salad and the girls dipped their "steak" in barbecue sauce.

The Ingredients.

--3 lb chuck roast, trimmed of fat
--3/4 cup brewed coffee
--1 yellow onion, chopped
--1 red bell pepper, chopped
--8 oz sliced mushrooms
--1 t garlic powder, or 4-5 chopped cloves
--1/2 tsp salt
--1/4 black pepper
--1 T Worcestershire sauce
--3 T red wine vinegar
--4 oz cream cheese (to add at the end)

The Directions.

Use a 4 quart or larger crockpot.

I opted to not brown the meat and onions, and instead plopped everything in to the crockpot. I put the vegetables on the bottom, and then the meat.

Add the coffee, Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, and spices.

Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or on high for 4-5. I cooked our meat on low for exactly 8 hours, and then it was on warm for another 3.

Carefully remove the meat from the pot, and stir in the cream cheese. I'd cut the cream cheese in slices and add it one at a time, if you can, to help it from separating in little white dots the way mine did. I got impatient. If you do get a bunch of little white dots, they will taste fine, but annoy you.

The Verdict.

Yummy! If I didn't know coffee was in there, I wouldn't have guessed that's what the hint of flavor was. I liked how the gravy was dark brown, and rich. Adding the cream cheese thickened it up nicely, and gave it a creamy texture.

Thank you, Nancy!