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:

quote:

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/re...pi-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

It sounded great....until you got to the Brussels Sprouts :-)

I will try that with venison and wild hog...bet it will be good with both!!

The only redeeming feature of a Brussels Sprout is that it fits neatly in the palm of your hand and can be thrown a great distance away from yourself....

A lady at work gave me the original recipe some months ago and I already had bought the ingredients. Seeing this thread inspired me to take the roast out of the freezer so I can finally make mine this weekend.

quote:

Originally posted by zeeriverrat1:
I will try that with venison and wild hog...bet it will be good with both!!

I made this same basic recipe with a moose roast a few months ago.

Frankly, I wasn’t impressed.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/coo.../drip-beef-two-ways/

Tas, I have been making this one for a couple of years now. The original recipe called for onion soup instead of au jus to accompany the Hidden Valley Ranch packet. I prefer the au jus. I brown the boneless chuck, stick it in the crockpot, sprinkle the mix packets over the top, add the cube of butter and scatter a dozen pepperoncinis and a couple of handfuls of mushrooms on top, put the lid on and walk away for the day. Fabulous on mashed taters with reduced gravy as you found.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
It sounded great....until you got to the Brussels Sprouts :-)

That's for sure....

I have never used a slow cooker in my life, but this is going to be the reason I change that!

Thanks

Way too salty for me and I did not add salt. Sure did smell good while cooking.

TC, you're going to love this roast. By the way, there is indeed a lot of salt in the au jus, the Hidden Valley Ranch and the pepperoncinis, so I use a cube of unsalted butter just to dial the sodium back a bit.

quote:

I have never used a slow cooker in my life, but this is going to be the reason I change that!

An oven can be dialed down to slow cooker temperatures.

Dave

Dave, I believe you are correct. But I also believe the Crockpots use a lot less energy to accomplish their low and slow magic -- and I don't feel nearly as nervous having one going while I am away from the house for most of the day vs. leaving the oven on. Just my dos centavos.

I see no added liquid except the butter and a little pepperoncini juice.
Is that correct?

Just sprinkle the mixes on top of the roast?

Of course I am going to use baby bellas.

I tried this recipe last night and it was excellent. I did brown the chuck for about 3 minutes a side and did throw a sliced onion into the pot. I was also concerned about the seeming lack of liquid but there was plenty in the pot at the end of the day.

We shall see . . .

It went on about 9ish with a pound of baby bellas.
Already ate one of those and it was good.

Supper is a long way off and I am ready to see what it is like over mashed potatoes.

Hey, guys -

Sorry I am late to reply to this.

In the crock pot, no added liquid is necessary.

In the oven (cooked in a tightly-covered casserole or Dutch oven), there "might" be a need to add a little bit of liquid at some point - depending on how well it is sealed up. A good (and very old) Alsatian trick is to make a thick paste of flour, water and a little salt, roll it into a rope, and seal the lid with it. When your meal is done, break open the seal, and enjoy!

TC, I would not do one of these without a double handful of sliced mushrooms now. They add sooooo much!

Since originally posting this, The Beautiful Mrs. Tas has made it several times. In addition to beef roast, she's also tried it with pork shoulder roast and chicken, with great results. Over time, she has also added a chopped onion to the ingredients - and depending on the fat content of the meat used, she reduces or omits the butter; but otherwise, she sticks to the original "recipe."

As mentioned above, no additional salt is necessary. Usually, depending on the size or type of the roast, the salt in the ranch dressing and au jus is just about the right amount; having said that, for the sake of experimentation, I am looking into ways to make a home-made "ranch dressing mix" and au jus mix with less sodium, as well.

I keep forgetting to add mushrooms, but will do so the next time I make this.

We got an Instant Pot pressure/slow cooker for Christmas, and I recently gave it the Mississippi Roast treatment. We wanted to make a big batch so that there would be leftovers, so to prepare this roast in our Instant Pot, I used a rump roast that was just under 5 pounds. I cut it into large chunks (about 2 inches x 3 inches), and then seared the chunks for a little extra flavor. The Instant Pot does have a "Sear" function, but I love my cast iron too much not to use it. I tossed the chunks into the Instant Pot as I seared them, then sautéed a chopped onion in the same pan. Once the onions were translucent, I tossed them all into the Instant Pot as well. I then de-glazed the cast iron with a little beef stock, lifting the brown bits from the pan, and tossed the de-glazing liquid - about 1/2 cup - into the pot. I threw the rest of the ingredients into the Instant Pot and set it to pressure cook for 45 minutes. Once the pressure cooking was done, I let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes and then took a look at the result.

One word: delicious!

The chunks were completely tender and came apart very easily. There was more liquid than expected, so the result was more like a soup, which was just fine as far as we were concerned. Many of the online recipes call for thickening the liquid into a gravy, but we chose not to do so and simply served it in bowls. The flavour of both the beef and the stock was spot-on, easily as good as our previous cooking it in a slow-cooker and absolutely wonderful on a cold winter day.

We'll be doing this again - I'm trying to think of ways to "improve" on the way I did it in the Instant Pot, but there really isn't anything I would do different, except possibly cut the roast into smaller chunks.

Thanks for the research Tas. If you can come up with a lower-sodium alternative to those mixes, please share. I do think using unsalted butter and adding a couple of cups of mushrooms helps spread out the sodium load.
I may have to try this with a lean pork shoulder, although I use a fat separator when preparing a gravy from the drippings. Wondering what mixes/spices might go better with pork than with beef.

quote:

I use a fat separator when preparing a gravy from the drippings.

I also do this; my theory is that the butter does lend a nice flavour to the drippings, and separating the fat does not detract from that added flavour. I also often reduce the drippings down by about half, so that they become something between a sauce and a gravy, then serve that sauce over the meat or (if I shred it) stir it back into the meat.

To be completely honest, the original recipe seems to work just fine for pork, as well - in fact, we are having leftover pork tonight with that profile, fried with onion and cabbage, Slovak-style.

Having said that, if you are looking for a slightly different profile to try with pork, I am certain that it would be worth your while to take a look at a combination of garlic, oregano, black pepper and a citrus such as lemon, orange, lime or a combination of the three. If you have a Latino grocery near you (I'm certain that won't be a problem) and can procure "bitter" or "sour" orange juice (made from Seville oranges), so much the better, as that will work in place of all three. The flavour profile that I describe here is quite popular in Cuba and other parts of the Caribbean.

Tas, sour orange is a mighty precious article. I couldn't obtain any when I roasted my one pig, using the Three Guys From Miami method. The subs worked great in making the citrus-garlic "mojo."

https://cuban-christmas.com/pigroast.html

Unlike most people, I have a charcoal grill in my patio/pool BBQ area. It has an electric spit that I use all the time, whether it be chickens or deer roasts.

The problem with slow cookers is everything is well done; I prefer my roasts rare in the middle, and I don't need stuff to cover up the taste of venison. Maybe it is just that the deer are good where I hunt, or perhaps because we eat no beef deer tastes like beef to me; I don't know.

In this case, the goal is a shredded beef, rather than a sliced roast, which I agree would be a different animal (no pun intended) and require different handling. I've never tried it with venison, but my own opinion is that there would indeed be better ways to cook venison than this.

Trying this today with a nice, fairly lean Smithfield boneless pork shoulder, plus the usual suspects -- some onion, mushrooms, au jus, Hidden Valley Ranch, unsalted butter and pepperoncinis.
Will report.

The gravy from the roast is also heavenly over freshly mashed potatoes.

Yep,it's hard to beat a good roast + mashed potatoes + gravy.I grew up eating that way.The vegetarians don't know what they're missing.

I made this for supper tonight and it was awesome. I added a chunked up onion and some sliced mushrooms. I thickened up the juice for an excellent gravy over mashed potatoes.

It is good isn't it?

Makes you hungry just thinking about it.

I made another one of these for supper last night.
Large pork shoulder. Didn't have any au jus so I used pork gravy mix. I used the rest of the bottle of pepperocini peppers and the juice. Didn't have any mushrooms this time. Just an onion.
Turned out fantastic. Had a lot of juice for gravy. I added another packet of brown gravy mix and a little corn starch to thicken the gravy. Served the gravy over mashed potatoes.
I am definitely going to keep this recipe.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
It is good isn't it?

Did one up this weekend, first try. Very good, indeed !