The Electric Skillet Makes a Comeback for the Sunday Roast!

      When I was a kid, my mother had an electric skillet that we used a lot! I mean, we made eggs and bacon in it, we cooked pancakes in it, and on Sunday, my mom would cook a roast with potatoes and carrots.  Early in my marriage, I also had an electric skillet that I would use quite often.  But as time evolved, somehow I got away from using it.  The skillet that I had broke and just a few years ago my husband bought me an inexpensive one, like this,  to use for a class that I was teaching.  Since that class, I haven't used it much.  Until, that is, last Sunday. On Sunday, before leaving for church, I often put a roast in the crock pot to cook for dinner.  Last Sunday, I had the roast in the refrigerator, but I forgot to put it in the crock pot. I came home from church and realized my folly and that there was no time for a crock pot roast.  I wondered to myself, "Self, what would your mom have done?"  That is when I thought of the electric skillet! I pulled it out, dusted it off and here is what I did.

    First, I seasoned my roast with seasoned salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder, and whatever sounds good.  Then I seared it, at about 400 degrees on both sides in olive oil. Give it a good browning. Next, I added chopped onion, sliced potatoes and sliced carrots to the skillet and about 2 T. of Worcestershire Sauce over the meat and 3/4 c. of water all around over the veggies.  I also salt and peppered the veggies. It had been a long time since I had done a roast this way, so I was kind of faking it.  Now I was ready to turn the pan down to 300 degrees and put the lid on.  I just left it alone for about 1 hour I think.  I checked to make sure there was a little liquid during the process so things wouldn't burn and stick to the pan. 

Here it is, roasted with the tender veggies all around it.

      One thing about cooking a roast this way, the meat doesn't fall apart like it does from the crock pot.  You have to slice it and use the pan juices on it, or make a sauce or gravy.  One thing I did forget though is how delicious the carmalization on the vegetables is when you pull them out of the pan.  There is just a depth of flavor in them that I had forgotten about after all of these year.

You don't get that in the crock pot. So tasty!

My husband doesn't like any red in his meat. I do, but it still came out juicy and tender. Use a meat thermometer to get the temperature and the amount of doneness that you want.

Just add a salad and some bread and everything will be rounded out!

      I can't believe I didn't think about using the electric skillet during the summer.  It made a great meal without heating up the house at all.  On Sunday it was nice to be able to give my family a nice meal even though I forgot to do the prep in the morning. A few days later, I made chicken and rice in the skillet as well. It was nice to cook the chicken with a sauce and rice all in the same pan.  The clean up is easy, too!.  I may be going back to using the electric skillet more often.  
      Do you have any recipes that you love to do in your electric skillet?  Let me know, I may try them out.  Here is a larger skillet for those of you with larger families. We are getting closer to being empty nesters and would only need this big size occasionally.
​    (If  you purchase from my affiliates, I may be compensated, but you will not have to spend any more than the normal price.  All opinions of the products are my own.)