Back in 1998 I attended a family reunion in South Dakota and the catered dinner included the most delicious roast. While I grew up with the typical salt and pepper seasoned roast surrounded by onions, potatoes and carrots, this one was blackened with a salty, lemony crust that was just... amazing. It took a lot of phone calls on my part to track down the caterer but I finally did, and got her 'recipe' by voice, over the phone. It called for 2 days worth of cooking and work but the end result was so good, it was worth it.
However! Now that my kids are older and I'm far more busy than I was when they were all under the age of 7, I don't have time to make our favorite roast. Instead, I had to find the shortest short cut I could... and that would be this version - to be used when I need something that night but have no time to cook it.
Lemon Pepper Roast
1 frozen beef roast with a nice layer of fat on one side so it stays moist during cooking
lemon pepper
garlic salt
black pepper
Place the roast in a crockpot. Add just a bit (1/4 cup) of water poured over top the frozen roast so the seasonings will stick nicely. Cover the top with a layer of lemon pepper. Now cover that layer with garlic salt and finish with a third layer of fresh cracked black pepper.
Cook on low 6-8 hours in a 'newer' (hotter) crockpot and set for 8-10 on an older crockpot. (The newer versions run hotter due to concerns about cooking things at low temperatures and so, tend to burn everything to a crisp if you follow your Grandmothers recipes for them! I hate them... can you tell? LOL.)
You can add potatoes to it if you like, or not. Up to you. Serve straight from the crockpot, or if you do have just a couple minutes extra, transfer it to an oven safe platter or baking sheet and put the seasoned side under the broiler for just a couple minutes to crisp it up.
This recipe is obviously not good for anyone on a low salt diet. For the rest of us? Yum.
