A Fall Feast: Slow Cooker Apple Pot Roast Over Cabbage & Apples

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; . . .

Ode to Autumn, John Keats, 1819

This is a meal I start cooking as Fall arrives and the apple orchards nearby sell their final and best fruit at the end of the growing season. The meal takes some time to make, but it is well worth the effort. I include the two recipes below. I like to serve the meat and gravy over top of the cabbage.

Slow Cooker Apple Pot Roast

2-4 lbs USDA Choice Chuck Roast
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/8 inch slices
1 med onion, cut into 1/8 inch slices
2 tbs olive oil
1 cup apple juice
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp powdered ginger
2 tbs corn starch dissolved in water.

1. In a frying pan, heat the oil. Brown the Chuck Roast on all sides.
2. Mix together the apple cider, soy sauce, Worcestershire Sauce, salt, ginger and garlic powder. Pour it into the slow cooker.
3. Place the pot roast and the scrapings from the pan into the slow cooker.
4. Put the onion and apples on top and on the sides of the pot roast.
5. Cover and cook for 6 hours. Do not uncover while cooking.
7. When cooking is complete, remove the pot roast and slice it on a cutting board.
8. To make the gravy, take the liquids and solids left in the slow cooker and put it in a pot. Dissolve the the corn starch in a bit of water and add it to the pot. Cook on medium high, whisking constantly until the liquid boils for one minute and thickens.
9. Put the meat and gravy together in a bowl.

Cabbage & Apples

3 lbs head of cabbage
2 tbs vinegar (preferably white balsmic vinegar, but any will do)
1 cup white wine
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tbs sugar
1 tsp salt
1 onion, diced
3 to 4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/8 inch slices.

1. Discard the very outer leaves of the cabbage. Chop the cabbage coarsely into bite sized pieces. Place in a bowl.
2. Mix together the vinegar, wine, oil, sugar, salt and a quarter cup of the olive oil. Pour over top the cabbage and mix to coat. Allow it to marinate for an hour, tossing often.
3. Add the remainder of the olive oil to a pan and saute the onions for ten minutes.
4. Add the marinated cabbage to the pan and cook over med. high heat for 5 minutes, stirring often, until wilted.
5. Transfer to a pot and cook covered for 20 minutes over medium low heat.
6. Add the apple slices, mix and continue cooking covered for ten more minutes.

Happy eating.

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