The Rising of the Ol' Mississippi: Pot Roast, That Is.

The New York Times wrote about it, and ABC's Good Morning America reported on it - - it's the old "secret" recipe of the Mississippi Roast that is moving faster than the lips of the missionary ladies at a tea party. 

Ripley, Mississippi resident, Robin Chapman is the unlikely star behind the Mississippi Roast, a slow-cooking roast with surprisingly simple ingredients where it first made it's place in the church cookbook "Sharing Our Best," put together by the Beech Hill Church of Christ congregation. 

I do not hide that I am a "convenient vegetarian." I eat no lamb. I eat no pork, unless it is bacon and some Italian sausage. I eat very little chicken (white, not on bone), and I eat beef about once - twice a month. While I own a tried and true pot roast recipe that I keep in my head and have used for over 35 years, this recipe still intrigued me. 

So last week I finally decided to try it. I will admit, it took me a few months of reading over and over the ingredients. Now, I am the first one to say if you taste a recipe and you like it, or a recipe sounds good to you, follow the original instructions first, eat it and then tweak it later accordingly to taste. A pet peeve of mine is when someone omits ingredients, changes ingredients, and then gripes the recipe wasn't very good - - well, duh. Case in point - - 

A co-worker raved and raved over my grandmother's carrot cake I brought to a potluck. I wasn't keen about giving out the recipe, but I finally did for this particular co-worker who even asked if she could take an extra slice of this moist rich cake home. When she saw the recipe, she griped that it had a cup of vegetable-type oil in it. It overwhelmed her so much that I finally said, "Either make the cake or don't."  She did, and cut the oil by half, to which she would later tell me that she baked the cake, but griped at me that the cake was too dry and she didn't understand why. By now you must be wanting the ingredients to the Mississippi Roast. 

Photo from NY Times

Now don't do what the New York Times did. Sam Sifton over thought the recipe and added mayonnaise, dill, buttermilk, and it just got ridiculous. Sorry Sam. Again, stick with the basic recipe, and just walk away for about eight hours. You will need: 

In order, place in your oven slow cooker or crock pot

4-5 lb beef chuck roast. 
1 pack of dry Ranch Dressing Mix - 1 oz. size (Do not add buttermilk and mayo like Sam did)
1 pack of dry Au Jus Gravy Mix  - 1 oz. size
1 stick of butter
4-5 whole pickled pepperoncinis 
1/4 cup (or more if you like spicy) of the juice from the pepperoncini jar.

Photo from Pinterest

Sprinkle the dry mixes over the roast. Add the full stick of butter. Place the pepperoncinis on top. Sprinkle over the pickled pepperoncini juice. Put lid on pot. Place the oven slow cooker on 250 degrees or crock pot on low setting. Walk away. Seriously. Walk away and come back in about 5 hours or so. Let it cook for a few hours or more until the roast just falls apart. I gave the roast almost seven hours of crock pot cooking time. It's really fool proof. 

How to serve? As a typical pot roast and add potatoes or rice on the side, and be sure and use the gravy it makes. Add a touch of water or pickle juice to thin to desired consistency, if you wish. A popular way is to use it as sandwiches between a baguette like an Italian beef sandwich topped with melted provolone cheese. I think the next time I prepare it, I am going to use tortillas for one of the meals and make tacos, adding fresh chopped onions and cilantro on the side. 

All I can say is I have a new pot roast recipe that I will no doubt expound upon, leaving my former recipe in the cobwebs of my mind. 

My results - right out of the oven. 

Wine pairing? Even wine writer, Eric Asimov of The New York Times chimed in on this recipe and suggests a red wine, of course, and with many choices. He suggests to use an Italian red with plenty of acidity such as a Brunello di Montalcino, Nero d’Avola, or even a Ripasso Valpolicella from Veneto. Want to look at a Spanish wine, try a Garnacha-based wine, or if you want to head to France, once again a grenche from southern Rhône, like a Gigondas or a Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Even better, a Malbec from Argentina, or Walla Walla, Washington  will be perfect. 

My choice would be a Ripasso or a Malbec. Cheers!