Pot Roast, an American Classic

Today I cooked and ate Pot Roast for the very first time!  It has been on my cook list for a while now, especially since we find ourselves smack in the middle of winter.  

Growing up, my family ate Italian food pretty exclusively.  As an American child in the 60s, I my Mother never really took to classic American fare and as an Italian, my father didn't see much reason to ever eat anything else but Italian.  Naturally, most nights for us it was a bowl of pasta and then a green salad.  On weekends we had elaborate Sunday dinners that were usually seafood based.  We didn't eat casseroles or meatloaf or steamed or buttered side vegetables.  We ate American food when we had barbecues in the backyard.  Hot dogs and hamburgers, and enough hot and sweet Italian sausages to feed an army (no matter how large the party was) and the piece de resistance: pork livers.  Our sides were cherry tomato salads with anchovies and grilled eggplant and zucchini from the garden.  You know, your typical American summer bbq.  Sometimes my Mom made us delicious chicken thighs smothered in BBQ sauce and my Dad LOVED that Entenmann's golden cake with the chocolate fudge.  Remember back in the day that cake used to be really good?

I remember the first time I tried Meatloaf, deviled eggs, brussels sprouts...I remember because I was an adult.  I remember going off to college and trying things I never had that were actually exotic to me.  I have never ever felt like I was missing out and I would never trade my Mother's dinners for the world.  I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been raised with whole, fresh and delicious foods, but I do find that my curiosity about some American classic dishes has been piqued.  Every couple months I will make a Sunday supper for my husband that I never would have eaten growing up.  Dishes that were a serious, elaborate meal in their heyday but probably became the butt of bad food jokes somewhere between the 60s and the 90s.  Now that there is such an awakening and emphasis on food knowledge and using good ingredients, I think these dishes have become stylish and respected again.  Of course something like Pot Roast would be good!

So I made it, and it was!  I usually rifle through recipes and come up with my own recipe that is a combination of a few.  This time I followed Alex Guarnaschelli's Pot Roast recipe from her latest cookbook, 'The Home Cook' almost to a T.  The flavors were awesome and it really made for the perfect Sunday supper for my husband and I.  I feel just like an American housewife ;)  Now, what should I cook next?