Spicy Beef Roast

Like pretty much every single other person on the planet, I'm always looking for things. A new purse, the exact right pair of jeans that fit perfectly and make me look flawless while being extraordinarily affordable, a nifty pair of shoes that don't hurt my feet and yet offer decent support, the best deal on Fancy Feast cat food for two picky cats who don't know how good they've got it.

Mostly, though? I look for recipes. Because cooking is not my favorite thing to do. I don't MIND it, oddly enough, I just get tired of DOING it every night, and I'm occasionally always looking for something new to try that's easy, that tastes delicious, and that doesn't break my budget.

While in recent months, both Pinterest and Six Sisters' Stuff has filled that void, I came across a recipe of my own that I discovered a few years back. It's from a booklet of recipes at Crock-Pot.com and is amazingly good.

Image borrowed from Blossy's Cook Book

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3 pound roast or brisket, trimmed of fat
1 to 2 tbsp, depending on taste, cracked black peppercorns
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
one-fourth cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp dry mustard

Rub cracked pepper and garlic onto roast. Put roast into Crock-Pot. Make several shallow slits/cuts in top of roast.

In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients, stir together, and pour over meat. Cover and cook on low setting 8-10 hours, or high setting, 4-5 hours.

Notes from the Cook:

• You don't have to use roast. You can just as easily use stew beef, beef tips, brisket, any kind of beef. I wouldn't recommend steak, but that's only because I haven't tried it.
• I actually recommend a black pepper grinder over actual black peppercorns. I don't like the super-strong or the super-spicy taste that peppercorns give. It's up to you which you use.
• If you're out of balsamic vinegar, plain white vinegar is a fine substitute.
• I have been known to leave out the dry mustard entirely. It's totally a matter of taste.
• As stated, this is for a three pound roast. For a smaller portion, halve everything. Trust me. It also wouldn't hurt to add just a teaspoon or two of water to your liquids to thin it out a bit if you're using a smaller amount of meat. If it's a bigger roast, don't double it. Just increase it by about a third.