So this isn't authentic by any means and, for being Cajun, it isn't particularly spicy. However, I incorporated the holy trinity to give this much more flavor than any Midwestern pot roast I grew up with in the Midwest.
Start with a rub. I used salt, white pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, and allspice. (More of the first half of list, less of the second half of the list.) Apply to a chuck roast. (I didn't remove the fattiest parts of the roast, but probably should have in hindsight.) Put roast in the crock pot.
Next, chop up two onions, a green bell pepper, and three ribs of celery. Spread across the top of the roast. Mince two cloves of garlic and also place on top. Drop in a bay leaf or two. Then, dump in a can of diced tomatoes. Finally, pour in some red wine and beef stock (lift the roast to let some liquid get underneath). Then, let the crock pot work its magic. I had mine on high for 4 hours and then switched to warm for another hour. It was very tender and fell apart pretty easily, but I think I let it cook just a smidge too long (my timing got off a little waiting for the potatoes.
The end product was really good (I ate mine after covering it with copious amounts of the au jus and chopped veggies left behind in the slow cooker), and it shall be made again.
Yum.
this inspired me to make a cajun chicken salad at least.
Nice.
I have beef pho stock brewing in the Instant Pot for tonight. Toasted spices, blackened onion, shallot, ginger and garlic, a couple pounds each of beef femur bones and oxtails, brown sugar, salt, fish sauce and water to cover.
I have thin-sliced bottom round, rice noodles and thin-sliced onion to go into ginormous bowls, topped with bean sprouts, green onion, jalapeno, basil and cilantro. Swirl in some hoisin and sriracha and lime....
How'd you get the bones - special order from the butcher?
Post Bone Broth hype I've found frozen bones at Cub even when pressed. Not as good, but still. When I lived in arlington a Pho place was next to my apartment. Tough to wake up at 3am and smell all that deliciousness.
my local grocery store frequently has soup bones, as it has a pretty significant butchery in the back for packaging up fresh meat. These were sawed disks, about 1.5-2 inches thick.
Also, with our large latino population, this store almost always has things like tripe and frequently has hog maws or pigs' feet, and oxtails (although I got these at Costco). Sometimes beef feet. Often beef heart or tongue, but that's a completely different thread.
as it turned out, the bottom round was too thick (this was advertised as thin-sliced at the store--I forget the CaliMex term they used for this cut and prep) and ended up pretty chewy. I had to slice it up into bite-sized pieces after it had simmered a bit.
But the basic flavors were on point.