The recipe is so easy and so good, you’ll make it over and over and will never have to look back at this recipe again!
For awhile, I was obsessed with preparing another recipe on Between Carpools, this 9×13: Slow Cooked Minute Steaks and Yukon Gold by Esty Wolbe. Yes, we’d change up the cut of meat. But as I made it again and again, the recipe simplified and evolved into this version.
We love this recipe so much, sometimes I’ll make the potatoes even when I’m preparing a different meat as a main dish. I’ll just add one big nice short rib on top of the potatoes to flavor them, then serve the rib pulled over the potatoes.
It’s just so simple yet so good.
A note on Flanken Roasts. We have a few good recipes for this cut of meat on BCP (see this post: Flanken Roast with Shallot Sauce). Unlike short ribs, which we prefer braised in a nice sauce, we like our flanken roast without sauce. Rather, we like the liquid that comes out of the flanken roast to flavor something underneath it.
There’s been days, when hosting a big crowd, that I served these sauce-less roasts next to a sweetier, saucier roast–and one like this was always the favorite. The best meat doesn’t need much adornment.
Now, let’s get onto this recipe. It takes only 5 minutes!!!
First, just peel and slice a bunch of yellow/Yukon Gold potatoes and add them to the bottom of your roasting pan or Pyrex. Slice a big onion and add that too.
Season with the most basic of spices: I use salt, garlic powder/garlic salt, and smoked paprika. (Feel free to adjust to similar spices you use on Pesach). Add ¼ cup oil and mix.
Add the flanken roast on top.
I make a rub for the flanken roast using olive oil, lots of fresh garlic, salt, and Montreal steak seasoning (or black pepper).
That’s all. Cover and bake at 275°F (low and slow) for 4-6 hours. The time depends on what else is in your oven (whether it’s crowded with lots of Yom Tov food!) and how big the roast is. On a regular Friday, when my oven is not crowded, this is ready in 4-5 hours. When I made this for Pesach last year and my oven was perpetually stuffed, it took much longer. If you want to make this overnight, just take the oven temperature down.
You’ll know the roast (or any slow cooked meat) is ready when it springs back to the touch.
Renee Muller served this roast, cooked overnight, last Pesach and it was a huge hit in her house too! She doesn’t use any spices other than sugar and salt, nor does she use fresh garlic, so this is how she flavored it:
“I rubbed some olive oil over the roast, then rubbed sugar and salt because I have no more spices to work with! I added about a cup of chicken soup, a cup of homemade duck sauce, and about 3/4 cup of sweet red wine (the same wine I used for charoses). (Basically, whatever components that could add flavor that I already had prepped in the fridge.) I covered everything tightly and placed in a 200°F oven overnight (from earlier in the evening). I served the next day, with the potatoes. HUGE hit!”
Editor’s Note: It is known that in a Crock-Pot, meats must be fully cooked or raw before Shabbos starts. When cooking overnight in a low oven, please ask your LOR on what percentage the food must be cooked ahead of time as there are differences of opinion.
So, yes, you can adapt the spices depending on what you use; it’s pretty flexible. So, there you go. An amazing flanken roast that’s as simple as it gets.
And Yes, It Can Be Frozen!
I know, that typically, potatoes do not freeze well. Here is the exception. Because these are slow-roasted, they just get better when frozen and warmed as they’re soft, not crispy. I’ve made this ahead and frozen many times. Simply take it out to thaw in the morning and then put to warm in the oven about an hour before serving.
Flanken Roast Over Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4-5 large yellow or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and sliced into rounds
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp smoked or regular paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ cup oil
- 1 Flanken Roast (any size) or Short Ribs
Garlic Rub:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 12 garlic cloves, crushed
- ½ tsp Montreal steak seasoning or black pepper
- 2 tsp salt
- (sometimes I add some brown sugar here too)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 275°F.
- In a roasting pan or Pyrex, combine potatoes, onion, spices, and oil. Top with flanken roast.
- In a bowl, combine olive oil, garlic, Montreal seasoning, and salt (add brown sugar if using). Rub over roast. Cover and bake for 4-6 hours, until the roast is springy to the touch.
- And Yes, It Can Be Frozen! Because these are slow-roasted, they just get better when frozen and warmed as they're soft, not crispy. I've made this ahead and frozen many times. Simply take it out to thaw in the morning and then put to warm in the oven about an hour before serving.
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