THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, February 16, 1997             TAG: 9702120087
SECTION: FLAVOR                  PAGE: F1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS 
                                            LENGTH:   68 lines

IN THE POT THERE'S MORE TO MAKING POT ROAST THAN TOSSING IN VEGETABLES AND MEAT AND COOKING 'EM FOREVER.

POT ROAST smells like Sunday afternoon.

The kind of Sunday when mom put a pan of meat, carrots, potatoes and onions in the oven before church and when you came home, Sunday dinner was ready.

Pot roast might be the home-cookingest dish in the American repertoire, but here's a secret: It's not American, and it's not all that simple. Easy, yes, but not simple.

Do it wrong and you end up with meat that's so tough you need a band saw to cut it, so dry it takes quarry equipment to chew it.

Pot roasts almost always make use of inexpensive cuts of meat, and for the most part these cuts are from the chuck or fore part of the animal.

Merle Ellis, the cooking expert known as ``The Butcher'' and the author of ``Cutting Up in the Kitchen'' (Chronicle, 1975) and ``The Great American Meat Book'' (Knopf, 1996, $30), says pot roast isn't roast at all. It's a braise.

``Basically, there are two kinds of meat - tough and tender,'' Ellis says. ``There are two reasons why some is tough and some is tender. One is the age. We get tougher as we get older. The second is location on the carcass. Muscles that get used a lot get tough.''

And since we have two kinds of meat, we have two ways of cooking it: moist heat and dry heat. Dry heat toughens meat, so you use it for tender cuts.

``Moist heat, on the other hand, tenderizes the meat,'' Ellis says. ``It breaks down the fibers and gives you a gelatinous texture that gives you good gravy. So you can take a 35-year-old water buffalo, and if you stew it long enough, it will be tender.''

Typically, pot roast is braised in a saucepan or Dutch oven, hence the name pot roast. There are two steps to a classic braise. First, you brown the meat. Then you add a little liquid, cover with a tight lid, and cook very slowly for a long time.

``Very slowly'' is the key. That's why some pot roasts are cooked in the oven. It's hard to maintain a very low simmer on the stovetop. The thermostat in the oven makes it simple to set a temperature and keep it there.

For years, people assumed pot roast had to be made with beef. But over time, many variations to the classic pot roast recipe have evolved. Pork, chicken and even lamb can be used. Give the meat a flavor boost with herbs, vegetables, fruits and spices.

Though pot roast needs to cook a long while, preparation time is minimal. Once dinner is in the pot, you're free to relax. MEMO: Portions of this article were written by Kathleen Purvis

Knight-Ridder Newspapers and Betty Douglass, a free-lance food writer

and home economist in Portsmouth. All recipes in this article have been

kitchen-tested by Douglass.

RECIPES, PLUS MORE TIPS FOR COOKING A CLASSIC POT ROAST, ON PAGE F6

[For a related story, see page F7 of THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT for this date.] ILLUSTRATION: [Color] PHOTOS BY Ian Martin

The Virginian-Pilot

Pot Roast of Beef, Stroganoff Style, is tender and tasty and slices

beautifully.

Spices, carrots and leeks are among the ingredients that can be used

to add flavor to this classic dish, whether it's made with beef,

chicken, pork or lamb.

HOW TO COOK A POT ROAST

GRAPHIC

[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]