Did anyone else watch the series “The Worst Chef in America” on Food channel recently? I really enjoyed it and picked up some great cooking tips for it. That and a jar of jam is what inspired this meal.
On one of the episodes they talked about combining extreme flavors. In my opinion putting Raspberry jam with a roast is a bit extreme, but that’s what I did. After all, I was able to get a jar for $1, On Worst Chef in America they said to take one extreme flavor and mix it with an opposite. So I paired the sweet Jam with Balsamic Vinegar.
Here are the ingredients I used for Raspberry Balsamic Roast
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 lb Boneless Roast (I’ve had this in my freezer for a while. As you can see it was BOGO Free)
- 4 TBSP Raspberry Jam
- 2 TBSP Parsley Flakes
- 2 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 small onion or Onion Flakes (I ended up using Onion flakes to save time)
Pour the water in the bottom of the crockpot and then stir in 3 of the 4 tablespoons of jam until it dissolves. Place the roast in the liquid and pour in the vinegar. parsley and onion flakes. I took the last tablespoon of jam and put it on top of the roast too.
As in most of my Crockpot Recipes, my roast was still frozen. So after putting the lid on, I turned the crockpot on High to help it defrost. After an hour I turned it back to low and continued cooking for 6 hours. I did open the crockpot several times through out to flip the roast over so that all sides shared the flavoring.
About 20 minutes before serving time, I took out the roast and added some cornstarch that I had mixed with water and turned the crockpot back to high. Then I put the roast back in and cooked until the sauce had thickened.
Many times when I cook a roast, the vegetables and potatoes are cooked with it too, but not in this recipe. So that left me to come up with sides. Originally I thought I would just bake some potatoes, but turned out I didn’t have enough. So I pulled the McCain Sweet Potato Fries and green beans out of the freezer that I had bought on the same Coupon “High” trip as the Raspberry Jam. I jazzed them up to make them a bit fancier.
I found this recipe for Balsamic Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges, but it took 45 minutes to cook. Using the McCain Sweet Potatoes cut my cooking time to 18 minutes.
Here are the ingredients for my side dish of Balsamic Sweet Potato fries. One word of warning – these are not low fat.
- 1 Bag McCain Sweet Potato Fries
- 3 TBSP Butter
- 2/3 cup brown Sugar
- 1/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar
In a saucepan I heated the butter, sugar and margarine until it boiled.
Then I poured it over the Sweet Potato Fries that I had placed in a 9×13 pan. I tossed the fries around until they were all well coated.
Following the directions on the package, I placed the fries in a 425 degree oven and cooked for 15 to 18 minutes.
The potatoes weren’t crunchy, but they were yummy.
To serve the roast I placed it on the serving dish and spooned the thickened sauce on top of the meat and garnished it with some frozen triple berries.
This meal was devoured by all and the platter was clear at the end of the meal. The roast was perfectly tender and sweet, without being too sweet thanks to the vinegar and the balance of flavors as recommended on The Worst Cook’s in America episode.
Since the main ingredients were bought during a Coupon “High” trip, it was also very frugal.
