Remove Thumb

This is one of my favorite cold-weather recipes, but today, I had an accident. Apparently it's not a good idea to chop carrots and talk on the phone at the same time. I really, really, really chopped into my thumb while trying to hold the phone on my shoulder with my chin. I aimed wrong, I guess. OUCH! My husband says it doesn't need stitches but I may come to regret listening to him, since he never sees anything as an emergency. His father was a surgeon, and according to my husband, the kids never saw a doctor for anything, even for my husband's broken arm. His parents told him to stop complaining, and a week or so later, when dh was at the hospital on rounds with his father, he had an xray taken. Lo and behold, the arm had been broken, but was in the process of healing. Sort of like the shoemaker's sons having no shoes, I guess.

Anyway, here's the Slow Cooker Recipe:

Tuscan Pot Roast from Real Simple magazine:

Egg noodles on the side will soak up the delicious gravy.
1/3 cup olive oil
1 2 1/2- to 3-pound bottom-round pot roast
2 large onions, quartered
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced (2 cups)
2 large carrots, thinly sliced (2 cups)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 cup dry red wine
1 1/2-ounce package dried mushrooms (such as portobello)
1 tablespoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes, chopped, liquid reserved

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the roast on all sides. Transfer the roast to a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. To the fat remaining in the skillet, add the onions, celery, carrots, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir to coat the vegetables; transfer to the cooker. Pour the wine into the skillet and scrape up any browned bits; add the contents of the skillet to the cooker, along with the mushrooms, salt, oregano, and tomatoes (plus 1 cup of their liquid). Cook 8 hours on low heat, or 4 hours on high heat.Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings

Using fresh mushrooms, added for the last half hour or so of cooking, works out better than using dried mushrooms.

Try it! It's great! (minus the thumb, of course)

Postscript, added two hours into cooking. The power went out! Damn.... It's been off for a half an hour so far. Maybe the thumb accident and now no power means I am not meant to cook!