V8 Roast Beef with Gravy and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

While my dear mother-in-law was visiting, she mentioned one of my sister-in-laws had made the most delicious pot roast she had ever had. My sister-in-law had cooked the roast in V8 juice. I thought this sounded fantastic, so I gave it a try. It really was one of the best roasts I've ever eaten, especially with a gravy made from the pan juices.

V8 Roast Beef

1 three pound chuck roast

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Salt and pepper

2 onions quartered

3 carrots cut into chunks

2 celery stalks cut into chunks

3 cups V8 juice

Salt and pepper roast on all sides. Heat oil over medium high heat in a heavy dutch oven. Brown roast thoroughly on all sides. Add onions, vegetables and juice to pot, cover with a lid and place in a 300 degree oven. Roast at least 2 1/2 hours, turning roast occasionally. Roast is done when a fork slides easily in and out of the meat. Remove roast from the oven and skim two cups of liquid from the pot, reserving in a heat proof vessel. Slice roast and return to pot to soak up juices and to rest until gravy and potatoes are ready.

V8 Gravy

4 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp flour

2 cups reserved pan juices from roast

2 cups chicken broth

In a sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and stir together constantly until mixture begins to darken into a nutty brown roux. This will take about 7 to 10 minutes, be very careful not to burn the roux. Slowly add the pan juices and broth to the roux, stirring constantly with a whisk to avoid getting lumps. Once stirred in and smooth, heat and stir occasionally until thickened into a gravy. Serve over mashed potatoes and V8 roast.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

5 lbs red potatoes cut into evenly sized chunks (I do not peel the potatoes, we like the skins on)

3 cloves garlic peeled and crushed

Water to cover potatoes in pot

4 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup milk(we use goat's milk due to an allergy to cow's milk)

salt and pepper to taste

Place diced potatoes and smashed garlic cloves into a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce heat to a gentle rolling boil until potatoes and fork tender, about 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size of potatoes. Strain and return to pot and place over medium low heat. Add butter and milk and mash the potatoes to desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.

After creating this meal myself, I thought I'd check out V8's site and see if they had their own recipe, they do. You can see V8's version here. Bon appetit!