Sunday was what seemed to be our fifth day in a row of gray, foggy, dreary weather. I decided pot roast was the required antidote and found a good-looking recipe on Epicurious that involved roasting with parsnips, carrots, and celery root. I figured I'd throw in some potatoes (because pot roast must have co-roasted potatoes) and get to work. The first step involved rubbing the roast with a combination of chopped fresh thyme, Hungarian paprika, dry mustard, and S&P. After that, a batch of lardons were fried up and removed from the pan, the roast was browned in the bacon fat, and a bunch of onions, garlic, and whole shallots were thrown in as well. You get the idea.
Anyway, I had to turn the meat over after the first hour of roasting. I took a quick taste of the sauce that was developing and was surprised to find a pretty good dose of peppery heat. Rather un-pot-roasty heat. I stood there for about ten seconds before getting the can of paprika out and realizing that I had added hot paprika and not the regular stuff. A total of two teaspoons had gone onto the roast, so it was not a huge amount but not insignificant either. There wasn't much to do at that point but soldier on and hope our dinner guests didn't mind.
As it turned out, all was well. The pot roast and everything cooked with it had a distinctive heat (a little of that hot paprika goes a long way). I wouldn't say it was great, and I probably won't make it that way again (at least on purpose) - when I make pot roast, I want something more along the lines of what Mom made and she never put hot peppers in it. Still, it added a little extra dimension and our guest liked it quite a bit.
