I have to be careful or my beef roasts all come out tasting the same. I brown the roast on all sides, put it in the crockpot while I brown some sliced onions and carrots in the searing pan. The vegetables go in the pot and I deglaze the pan with a can of tomatoes or some red wine that will serve to tenderize the meat. Black coffee can tenderize, too, so sometimes I use that. If I have green peppers or mushrooms or celery (or all of them), they go in with the roast, as well as various spices, some garlic, and a bay leaf. It cooks until the meat is tender, and I call it pot roast. Mr. Kitchentales calls it stew even though the meat is big enough to slice. I guess his mother didn't know what pot roast was.

Today I bought a bottom round roast and want to come up with something a little different, so am going to try this cream sauce for the cooked beef, just to see if it is worth doing again. The recipe is from cooks.com.

Braised Beef in Cream
1 (4 lb.) boneless pot roast (sirloin tip, bottom round, rump or chuck)
1 tbsp. shortening
Sliced onions
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/2 c. water

1/2 c. butter (or less)
2 c. heavy cream
2 lg. cloves garlic
4 tbsp. lemon juice
1 1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. pepper
Watercress or parsley

In Dutch oven or heavy casserole with cover, slowly brown meat on all sides in hot shortening. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add water; cover and simmer 1 1/2 to 3 hours, or until meat is tender. Remove from kettle, allow to stand 20 minutes then slice thinly.
Pour off pan juices and save for another use. Heat butter in kettle until it bubbles and browns. Add cream, garlic, lemon juice, about 1 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring, about 3 minutes or until sauce reduces slightly.

Spoon half the sauce over bottom of a shallow heat-proof serving platter. Arrange meat slices, slightly overlapping in sauce. Pour remaining sauce over top. Near serving time, bake in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Spoon sauce over meat. Sprinkle with parsley.

Here is a marinade:

Renita's Marinade

1/2 c. soy sauce
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. lemon juice
Dash of onion & garlic powders
Beef or pork roast, bottom round, pork loin, shoulder/butte
Marinade overnight in refrigerator, turning once. Cook 2 to 3 hours on 350 degrees in oven. (Can also be used for crockpot cooking.)

A couple of times this summer I've made carnitas using the following recipe. I might have posted it before.

Chuck roast has more fat marbling than this bottom round so it would shred. I'm wondering if that would make a difference, so I'm going to hack off a piece of this round roast and try the technique.

Beef Carnita
4 pounds chuck roast
1 (4 ounce) can green chile peppers, chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
Place roast on heavy foil large enough to enclose the meat. In a small bowl, combine the green chile peppers, chili powder, oregano, cumin, garlic and salt to taste. Mix well and rub over the meat.
Totally wrap the meat in the foil and place in a roasting pan.
Bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, or until the roast just falls apart with a fork. Remove from oven and shred using two forks.

Speaking of Mr. Kitchentales' mother and what she called stew, I'm reminded of the time I asked him if there was any dish she used to make that he didn't like so I wouldn't accidentally make something similar. Apparently there is something she called a meat hash, but it was so horrible he couldn't talk about it much less describe the ingredients and cooking technique. I still don't know what was in it.