Mississippi Roast

[TasunkaWitko]

Mississippi Roast

I'm not sure if this is really from Mississippi, but that's the name, so....

This is one of those recipes that has been floating around on social media for a while. I never really thought I would try it; no special reason for this, it was just something that was never on my radar, even though I had heard of it.

Then, a friend and co-worker mentioned that they had tried it, and the praise for this dish was very high, both in terms of ease of preparation and in flavour. I happened to have a chuck roast in the refrigerator, so I decided to give it a go; I am very glad that I did, and suspect that you will be too, if you try it.

There are a few minor variations, but here is a typical recipe that we used:

Mississippi Roast

Ingredients

One 3- to 4-pound boneless beef roast, your choice of cut (see note below)
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter
1 package au jus gravy mix
1 package dry ranch dressing mix, such as Hidden Valley
Sliced pepperoncini peppers, number to your liking, and a little juice from the jar
Salt and freshly ground pepper, if desired

Put the roast in a slow cooker. Add the butter, au jus gravy mix, ranch dressing mix and the pepperoncini peppers with some of the juice. Add salt and pepper if you like and cook on low until tender, about 8 hours.

Cook's Note - Sometimes we use chuck roast, sometimes sirloin tip, sometimes rump. Sometimes we sear it. Sometimes we don't.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mississippi-pot-roast-3517283

The thing about this recipe is that it seemed almost too easy; also, I'm not usually squeamish about such things, but the amount of the butter did indeed concern me a bit (a whole stick! Nevertheless, I gave this a try, using a beef chuck pot roast in the neighbourhood of 4 pounds and about 2/3 of a 16-ounce jar of sliced pepperoncini peppers.

With my decision to give it a go, I abandoned all control and put my faith in the recipe. The preparation was as easy as can be: a few peppers and a little bit of each seasoning mix on the bottom of the slow cooker - along with a pinch each of salt and pepper and a few slices of pepperoncini (and juice). Then, the roast, with a bit more salt and pepper. Finally, the majority of each seasoning packet, the stick of butter (I sliced it into about 6 sections and placed them across the top of the roast) and some more of the pepperoncini, with some more juice.

That was all there was to it! I set the crock pot to "Low" and left it alone for the next 8 hours.

It wasn't terribly long before the house began to smell good - really good - and it just kept getting better as the day went on. I realized then that we were indeed going to ahve something pretty special. By the time it was ready, everyone in the family was salivating at the chance to give it a try, but I decided to add one more step.

I removed and de-fatted the cooking liquids, then reduced them down on the stovetop perhaps by half while the roast rested in the slow cooker. The liquids thickened just enough to become an incredible, rich sauce/gravy that went extremely well with the fork-tender, flavourful beef and the Brussels sprouts that were served on the side. The family and I were extremely impressed with this, and we most certainly plan to make it again, and often.

Two things:

We did discover that with the salt in the packages of au jus and ranch dressing mix that additional salt is simply not necessary. When we prepare this from now on, we will omit any added salt, but will definitely add some black pepper.

The Beautiful Mrs. Tas found it to be just a tad spicy for her, so next time I will cut back on the pepperoncini a bit - maybe half a jar, rather than 2/3 of a jar.

I am sure that a few simple things could improve this recipe, such as perhaps searing the roast and adding some sliced onions; but in all truth it is absolutely wonderful just as it was prepared, and there honestly isn't any real need to improve it.
I do recommend trying this - it was, to me, much more than the sum of its parts. If you give it a go, please be sure to report back on what you think of it.

Ron

 

[Temptd2]

The recipe as you wrote it didn't say anything about pepperoncini - is that your own addition, or should it be included in with the seasoning packets and butter? Just curious!

I've made a similar thing, but it was roast, a packet of onion soup mix, dry, and a jar of sliced pepperoncinis. We really liked it.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

That sounds pretty good, with the onion soup mix. One of our favourites is to put in a roast (beef, venison or pork) with a package of onion soup mix and a can of cream of mushroom soup. - put it in frozen and let it cook!

As for the Mississippi recipe, it looks like this new forum format cuts off a quote at a certain part. If you go back up the recipe, you will see the last line of the recipe being about the ranch mix; however, there's a note there that says, "click to expand." If you do that, the rest of the recipe shows up!

 

[vanishingpint]

Mississippi roast is my go to recipe now. Left over Mississippi roast sandwiches may be better than the roast and mashed potatoes.

 

[Temptd2]

That sounds pretty good, with the onion soup mix. One of our favourites is to put in a roast (beef, venison or pork) with a package of onion soup mix and a can of cream of mushroom soup. - put it in frozen and let it cook!

As for the Mississippi recipe, it looks like this new forum format cuts off a quote at a certain part. If you go back up the recipe, you will see the last line of the recipe being about the ranch mix; however, there's a note there that says, "click to expand." If you do that, the rest of the recipe shows up!

Wow, thank you for alerting me to that! It's in a VERY light beigy-orangey color and is partially overwritten by that last line of recipe, I never would've seen/clicked on it without your tutelage! Now I'll know next time!