Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Recipe Box!

Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Recipe Box!

Ok….here is the deal.  There are so many recipes out there and many times cooks like to claim a recipe as their own….and defy anyone to reprint it without giving credit where they feel credit is due…. and if they change it around a bit…. I guess that is ok.  BUT….many, many recipes have been “around” for years and years and I have to say…the recipes handed down are for everyone and these “serious” cooks, bakers and bloggers need to lighten up a bit.  At least that is the way I feel.  I really don’t care if a person takes one of my recipes and makes it their own.  I say, go for it!  I encourage it and you do not have to get my permission or any of that jazz.

Having said that, I have a little story to tell you about this recipe for Mississippi Roast…because I believe it is so indicative of recipes in general.

Many years ago, (about 15, I am told) a lady who happened to live in Mississippi, received a roast recipe from her aunt.  It called for packaged Italian dressing, a packaged dry gravy mix, a stick of butter, Pepperoncini peppers and of course a roast.  All this was placed in a crock pot and in a few hours….the families raved at it’s goodness.  EXCEPT for the fact that the lady did not care for Italian dressing!  So she substituted a package of dry Ranch Dressing mix and used a chuck roast, along with the McCormick (Au Jus) gravy mix and her family “oohed and aahed” over this delicious, tender cut of meat.  But she did not call it Mississippi Roast…she called it “Roast”. Her name?  Ms Chapman from Ripley, Mississippi.

Supposedly, the critics and food “experts” ignored this recipe because of its’ packaged mixes full of msg and non-prouncable ingredients and for years it just quietly made it’s way to the table of busy wives and mothers….with out much fan-fare…other than how good it tasted.

My dear readers, as many of you know, there are other roast recipes out there using packaged mixes.  

One, is on the box of Lipton’s dry onion soup and I have been adding this soup to a slow cooking oven roast for at least 50 years!  And while it is very good….the Mississippi Roast recipe below is really really good. 😉

Also, the recipes on the box of Lipton Onion Soup Mix, listed an onion dip by mixing this same package of soup with a carton of sour cream….which resulted in a delicious “homemade” dip!  By the way, with Super Bowl Sunday approaching fast….this dip comes highly recommended.  

So who can lay claim to fame with these Lipton recipes?  I would imagine Lipton and you can still find these and more recipes on the box of soup mix.

Good or bad using a packaged mix?  Your call.

But now lets talk about the Mississippi roast again.  It does NOT call for the Lipton soup mix.

Sooooo over the years this Mississippi roast recipe (under various names) has traveled around and someone living in North Carolina thought it should be called Tar Heels Roast and yet another called it Just Plain Roast….and finally, someone took the time to try to trace the origin of the recipe that was placed in a church cook book in Mississippi…. by none other than the niece of the aunt who changed the Italian dressing mix to the ranch dressing mix and thus the recipe became known as the Mississippi Roast recipe.  

Now, as for the printable recipe below…..it does not contain the packaged mixes…..No, I did not do the substitutions, but a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend…..so you get the picture.  I really don’t know who the “credit” should go to….or if any credit should go to anyone.  This recipe is simply a good recipe to make a pot roast, and I would imagine the name could be changed to Texas, New Mexico, Minnesota or whatever if someone really wanted to lay claim to it.

For now, I am calling it Mississippi Roast because I really love this recipe.  You can serve this with mashed potatoes or do as I do sometimes and toss in carrots and potatoes to make it a one pot meal.

The handy dandy printable recipe is below….but if you prefer the ease of using packaged mixes, please use the stick of butter, the dry ranch dressing mix and the dry (au Jus) gravy mix along with the pepperoncini peppers which really gives a bit of zing to this recipe!

AND, last but not least…how about putting this shredded roast on crusty bread for that Super Bowl Sandwich and adding perhaps a bit of sauce of your choosing?

One more thing…. don’t forget to try the onion dip….it happens to be one of the Captain’s favorites….for chip dipping.  The recipe is on the box. 😉

Mississippi Chuck Roast

2016-02-04 15:19:28

This is just plain good....I don't care what you call it and I don't care if you take the short cut and used the packaged ranch dressing and gravy mix or you make it from fresh ingredients. Try it....

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Ingredients

1. 1 boneless (or bone in) chuck roast, 3 to 4 pounds
2. 2 teaspoons salt
3. 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
4. 1/4 cup flour (for browning)
5. 3 tablespoons oil, (I like canola)
6. 8 Pepperoncini, this is a matter of choice
7. *6 tablespoons unsalted butter
8. *2 tablespoons mayonnaise
9. *2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
10. *1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
11. *1/2 teaspoon dried dill
12. *1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
13. *1 teaspoon buttermilk (for that ranch dressing taste)
14. Chopped parsley or cilantro for garnish

Instructions

1. Rub salt and pepper over your roast (your choice as to how much) and then dust the roast with the flour and pat it in.
2. Heat the oil in a large cast iron skillet or heavy dutch oven until it is very hot. Then gently place the floured roast into the oil and brown it on all sides. (Please be very careful with this hot oil as I still have the burn scars on my bottom wrist where 20 years ago, I accidentally "dropped" a roast into the oil and it splattered...just sayin')
3. The browning should take about 4 minutes a side, depending on how hot your oil is. You want it to have a nice golden crusty coating.
4. Carefully, remove the roast and place it in your slow cooker or crock pot.
5. Lay the butter and the Pepperoncini on top of the roast.
6. Make the ranch dressing by combining the buttermilk, mayo, vinegar, garlic powder, dill and paprika, whisking to emulsify the mixture and pour over the roast.
7. Place the lid on the crock pot and cook on low for about 6-8 hours or on high for about 4 hours. The slower this cooks, the more tender it is, so I recommend it to be the longer cooking time. You will want the roast to shred easily with a fork before serving it in the gravy juices.
8. You can garnish the serving plate with parsley or cilantro, and serve mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, rice or noodles

Notes

1. *Or you can use 1 stick of butter, 1 package of ranch dressing and 1 package of (Au Jus) gravy mix
2. Top or bottom round roast works just as well.
3. Please use the Pepperoncini as this adds flavor and a zip to the roast...you can garnish the plate with the Pepperoncini which is pretty.
4. I have also placed potatoes and carrots in the crock pot to cook along side of the roast and they are yummy.

Me and My Captain https://meandmycaptain.com/