November 14, 2012

A thoroughly scrumptious 1950s pot roast recipe

It is not exactly a secret that sometimes when one spies a yesteryear recipe, it's apt to raise a few eyebrows (tuna, Jell-o, pimento, American cheese, and gobs of mayo in the same dish, why not?!) and make even the most ironclad stomachs amongst us do a double take.

Much as I do actually love a good, kooky vintage recipe (nothing ventured, right?), I know that not everyone who plonks themselves down at my dinner table is always going to share my gusto for the - how shall we say - more unique offerings that vintage recipe booklets, magazines, and cookbooks like to dish up.

With that thought planted firmly in mind, I always keep an eye open for old school recipes that could just as easily have come straight from the pages of the most contemporary of culinary sources, and I think that (assuming one doesn't mind a little ketchup with their beef) today's recipe for Highland Pot Roast hits that mark wonderfully.

With nary a drop of mayo or speck of pimento in sight, this recipe sets the tongue aflutter at first reading, and will likely have you making a beeline for the closest butcher's shop in the very near future.


1957 Heinz recipe for Highland Beef Pot Roast, vintage recipe for Chronically Vintage

{A handful of timelessly tasty ingredients partner up in this hearty, delicious pot roast recipe from the 1950s, that is sure to impress and thoroughly fill all your dinner guests. Image via Charm and Poise on Flickr.}



I've long been a fan of meat dishes that have a subtle hint of sweetness to them and this elegant pot roast delivers just that thanks to the use of dried apricots (if you had any to hand, dried peaches or plums would be excellent here as well) and good old-fashioned Heinz ketchup.

There's really very little I'd alter about this cold-weather-perfect beef recipe, save perhaps to toss in a few herbs (I'm thinking fresh thyme and parsley - a little dried sage would be lovely, too) and up the black pepper content a tad. You could play around with the veggies, adding or swapping in things such as parsnips, onions (yes, I think a bit of onion is in order), or sweet potatoes (which would harmonize really nicely with the apricots).

Serve this roast with a hefty helping of mashed potatoes, creamed spinach and some fluffy buttermilk biscuits during the nippier months, or a cucumber salad and French bread if you're getting treated to an Indian summer this year, for a vintage recipe that succeeds beautifully in being an appealing classic no matter what decade it is.

15 comments:

  1. I do love a good pot roast but what I love even more is that cute and happy pot illustration. Have a great week,
    Megan

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  2. This looks good. Maybe Ill try it with the pork roast we bought at Costco. My mom never really cooked whole pieces of meats like this so I'm a little daunted by it.

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  3. This is made for a slow cooker- only thing that allows me to survive the school week these days!

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  4. You lost me at the celery, in my opinion it is the devil's own vegetable. Might try it without.....lol

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    1. For sure, just ditch it if it's not to your liking. 99.9% of the time, I view recipes simply as general guidelines, not as a hard and fast set of rules that one absolutely must adhere to. Have fun and add in whatever you'd like instead or simply up the amount of one of the other veggies here.

      Happy cooking!
      ♥ Jessica

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  5. Ah, that looks delicious. Except for the mushrooms. I balk at fungus among us. More potatoes for me, please!

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  6. I would but an organic pot roast is around 30 dollars here.

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  7. This is a definite must try. Sounds yummy and may be this Sundays "Dinner at Grandma's".

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  8. This just sound so delicious, I need a personal chef to cook this for me.

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  9. The apricots sound nice! I'm sure my husband would love this.

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  10. i don't think i'd be brave enough to take on the apricots, but i love this one-pot wonder - i wouldn't change anything else!

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  11. I think my hubby will really like this! Sounds yummy. He is more daring with food than I am LOL xox

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  12. While I very rarely eat meat, this is quite a gem of a recipe! I, too, collect vintage cookbooks and love to experiment with the good, the bad, and sometimes the downright ugly (I am known among my friends to take special delight in the very worst gelatin related recipes that I can find!).

    I love the addition of sweet apricots to a savory dish; you see a lot of dried fruits in Turkish and Moroccan cooking (like in tagines, which are one of my favourite cold weather recipes to make). There is a lot of fruit to balance out spicy foods in Caribbean and South American foods, too. Yum!

    ~ Garnet

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  13. YUM! Will be sure to try this on a lazy Sunday...

    Ruby xx

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  14. I love, love LOVE pot roast!!!

    :) Hope

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