Smoked Chuck Roast with Roasted Kohlrabi and Acorn Squash
Continuing the hygge vibes.
I’m going to preface this week’s dispatch with a preemptive apology: I’m sorry there aren’t that many photos this week. Tomorrow, right around this time, Uncle Steady and I are going to be pushing off at the start of the PMC Unpaved Gravel Ride. If fortune favors us, we’ll be doing about 50 miles of biking and climbing a cumulative 5,000 feet. Sounds delightfully fun, especially since I’ve never really biked before. Here’s to new adventures!
I’m going to blame the lack of visual aids on this ride. As Mrs. CWD pointed out, the week before a big event, you need to taper, and tapering involves cutting back on most non-essential activities.1 Keeping this in mind, and due to some rearranging of scheduled meals, I just generally kind of forgot to take photos while making anything this week. Shame on me. It’s especially disappointing, because we did make some killer recipes: miso-glazed haddock2 and chipped BBQ pork burritos were both highlights. But alas, they’re gone forever!
That being said, back in the olden days, we didn’t even have pictures with each week’s recipe3, so even the few you’re getting today should be considered an upgrade!
We’ve done various versions of today’s recipe before, but I’m not sure we’ve ever specifically make this variety of roasted veggies. It’s simple, but delicious. Especially the kohlrabi, which in the Family CWD’s humble opinion, is one of the most underrated vegetables in the garden. I’m not sure I had ever had kohlrabi prior to joining our CSA a few years ago, but since then, it’s been a real treat every time it shows up.4 If you’d never had it, I’d harken the flavor to a sweeter broccoli stem.5 When roasted, it gets a rich flavor and complements the sweetness of the acorn squash tremendously.6 Give it a shot if you can find it in the store, or try it out in the garden next year.
Anyway, this is a pretty simple weeknight recipe, with some upfront prep work, and then mostly time in the oven (and/or smoker). It’s also a great fall meal, as with the shorter days and crisper evenings, we start embracing longer cook times and heartier sides. Just all around good livin’!
Liberally season a hunk of chuck roast7 with your favorite beef rub8. Throw it in your smoker9 at around 275(F) until it hits your desired internal temp.10 Remove from heat, toss on a piping hot, buttered, cast iron pan, and sear for a few minutes a side. Let rest before carving.
Preheat your oven to 400(F). Chop up one or two kohlrabis and one or two acorn squash into inch or so chunks11. Throw them in a cast iron pan, roasting pan, or deep baking sheet. Toss the veggies with melted butter, a splash of maple syrup12, salt, pepper, and place in the oven. Roast for about an 1 hour, stirring occasionally, so everything browns.
Serve together (or separately) and remember it’s fall.
There we have it. Pretty easy stuff, and the veggies are a bit of a show stealer. Mrs. CWD said, having this for the first time since last winter, she was reminded of how much she loves roasted veggies. Putting aside the fact that she cooked this meal13, that’s about as good an endorsement as you can get!
With that, we’ll wrap things up for this week. Get outside and enjoy the sunlight while you can this weekend — before you know it, it will be winter, the sun won’t even be up when this email hits your inbox, and by the time half of you have read this, it will be dark out again. Depressing!
PS — Long-time reader, not-yet contributor, Sam riffed on last week’s osso bucco recipe and posted about it on Twitter. Check it out below (or here). Please excuse his vulgar language… Sam, there are kids around!
Regardless of his lowly vernacular, we’re working on signing him up for a guest post. Stay tuned!
In college, taper time was sacred. As the old taper adage goes: “Why run, when you can walk, why walk when you can lie down?” Some of the upper classmen with cars were known to run “taper taxis” between the pool, the dining hall, and dorms and apartments. Simply stated: “Do less.”
Which Mrs. CWD described as the best fish she’s had in a long time.
We also didn’t really have readers…
We even went to far as to plant kohlrabi this year — and it was one of the few crops that didn’t run into any serious issues!
Writing that makes me realize it’s a terrible comparison.
We’ve also mixed it in with potatoes and mashed it; also delicious.
You could very easily use a “nicer” cut like a rib roast here, but chuck is way cheaper and can be just as delicious. You could also do a big ol’ ribeye, strip steak, or, as I’m hoping to do later this fall, a venison roast.
You could also do this in the oven or on the grill over indirect heat, as we’ve discussed in the past.
I like medium-rare, which is around 125(F)-130(F) depending on who you ask. It should take about an hour and half-ish for a +/- 4lbs roast.
You could supplement the kohlrabi and acorn squash with really any root vegetables (turnips, radishes, carrots, sweet potato, etc) — or swap them out entirely. All depends on what you have readily available.
Per Mrs. CWD: “Not too much since the acorn squash is already pretty sweet.”
And dictated the veggie recipe to me.
Ok. This one is probably beyond my skill level, or shall I say, my patience level, but I'll count on your cooking it for me when we are next together, as it looks OUTRAGEOUSLY DELICIOUS!!!!