P.W. Seared Pot Roast

I assure you that the P.W. in the title does not stand for a small child’s disgusted cry of “Peeeyoo!”

If you think it might stand for “Proven Winner” you’re also wrong.

If you guessed “Prize Winning” you’re getting closer! But only because somebody will give me some sarcastic Darwin-esque award when they’re done reading this blog entry.

I think I have a good track record of making mouth-watering pot roasts in the past. Today I decided to try something a little different. My Mom said she always takes them straight from the freezer, sears them a bit on each side to keep in the juices and lets them cook a little longer than usual. I thought, “Why not?” The Why Not was occasioned in part by the fact that I had no fresh meat to satisfy my inner carnivore.

I warmed up the stove (a lot, as it turns out, because I got distracted by the twins needing something) then unwrapped the pot roast. It looked a little shiny and icy on the outside, but otherwise quite cookable. I put a little oil in the pan, browned two sides of the pot roast and then turned it down to cook with some nice seasonings and water.

When I got home from church a couple hours later, I had the following conversation with my husband (who had stayed home with the sick twins):

Husband Man (laughing): I took the plastic wrap off your pot roast.

Me (blinking and furrowing my eyebrows): P—P—Plastic wrap?

Husband: Yeah. The whole roast was wrapped in plastic wrap.

Me (more blinking and furrowing): But, I didn’t…. I seared… It browned…

Husband (paling): You SEARED it?

Me: Seared.

Turns out the Society for Kindness to Plastic Wrap need not be too worried because the plastic wrap came through without any injuries. I’m not quite sure what physics were involved with the heat and the sizzling and browning of the meat and seeming lack of change in the plastic wrap.

So now you know what my special “P.W. Seared Pot Roast” is: Plastic Wrap-seared Pot Roast. I swear I had no way of knowing it was all covered in plastic wrap. I didn’t see the butcher wrapping it. And when I unwrapped it, it looked like a nice, solid sheen of ice on top but otherwise completely unnoticeable. Oh well. Perhaps it’ll turn out better this way and I’ll start preparing it this way every time. (Anxiety of carcinogens and plastic chemicals aside…)