Need help - Cooking roast, rice & gravy for first time.

This calls for pork, but you can use the same technique with beef, I'm sure.

Smothered Pork Roast over Rice

"Whenever we drove into Granny's driveway, we would know when she was cooking this dish because its rich aroma would hit us as soon as we stepped out of the car, " chef Donald Link writes in his new cookbook, "Real Cajun: Rustic Home Cooking"

1 (6- to 7-pound) boneless pork roast (shoulder or butt)
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
2 large onions, thinly sliced
8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 Tbs fresh thyme leaves
1 Tbs dried rosemary, crumbled
2 Tbs vegetable oil
8 Tbs (1 stick) butter
½ cup all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken broth
Juice of ½ lemon (optional)
Steamed rice

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Season the pork very generously with salt and pepper, rubbing the seasonings into the fat and flesh of the meat. Set the roast aside for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour at room temperature.

2. Combine the onions, garlic, thyme and rosemary in a medium mixing bowl and toss to combine. Heat the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the oil is very hot, sear the meat on all sides until deeply browned and crusty, 10 to 12 minutes.

3. Transfer the meat to a plate, reduce the heat to medium, and then stir in the butter. When melted, stir in the flour to make a roux and continue to cook, stirring, until the roux turns a dark peanut butter color, about 10 minutes.

4. Add the onion mixture and cook, stirring, until all the ingredients are well coated and the mixture is thick. Whisk in the chicken broth and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Return the pork to the Dutch oven, spoon some of the onion mixture over the meat, cover, and roast for about 3 hours, turning and basting the pork every 30 minutes or so, until the meat will break apart when pressed gently with a fork.

5. At this point, you can serve the roast right out of the pan, or transfer it to a plate, then simmer the pan drippings, skimming off excess fat, until reduced by about one-third, or until it coats the back of a spoon. Add the lemon juice and taste for seasonings.

6. Before serving, sprinkle the roast with some additional salt. Serve the roast smothered with a generous amount of sauce and hot steamed rice.

Yield: Makes 8 to 10 servings

Source: Donald Link's Real Cajun

How do you cook without skillets etc...?

This is a simple version. Everyone has a different method, but this might work if you can brown your roast in the pan on the stove before putting it in the oven.

Season the roast with pepper, onion and garlic powder. Coat in flour. Heat some oil in the pan and brown all sides of the roast. Don't let the flour burn.

While the roast is browning, heat a half cup of water per pound with a tablespoon or so of Better than Bouillon beef base and a tablespoon of tomato paste. When that's dissolved and the roast is browned, deglaze the pan with the broth mixture. Cover the roast in the pan and bake at 325 for about 30 minutes per pound, depending on whether you like the roast falling apart or such that you can slice it. Take the oil off the top of the gravy before serving it over the rice.

If you want onions, garlic etc... in the pan, just remove the roast after browning and saute the veggies a bit before returning the roast and the liquid to the pan.

Can't promise how this will turn out without a good roaster and top, though.

Good luck! Let us know the result. You might find something new we'd like.

I prefer to brown the flour on the meat and scrape the pan after that for a thickening agent. I don't care for roast gravy that's too thick, though. I just like it to have some body. Other folks make roux later and mix it in the drippings. How thick you'd like the gravy is a matter of taste.