Coffee-Braised Beef Roast with Cinnamon and Orange Zest

My three year old looked out of her bedroom window the other morning and said the following:

"Oh!!  Wow!!!  It's CLOUDY outside!!!"

Yes, it's almost that time again in Seattle.  Summer has been amazing, but the endless days of sunshine and perfect 75 degree afternoons have to soon come to an end.

The good news is that fall foods can come back!  Squash, apples, cinnamon, roasts, stews... if you've been around this blog or my kitchen for any length of time, you know that's what we love to eat.  I could eat butternut squash, applesauce and beef roast every day and probably never tire of it.

This particular roast recipe is adapted from here, using what I had on hand.

The Tools:

6 qt. crockpot

2-3 lb. beef roast
1 large shallot
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 cup dark coffee (I used an Americano, because we're coffee snobs here in Seattle)
2 T orange zest
1 cinnamon stick
2 T maple syrup
black pepper
sea salt
olive oil

The Process:

Heat up olive oil in a saute pan.  Season beef roast with salt and pepper and sear roast on all sides with tongs.  Plop roast in the crockpot.

Saute shallot for several minutes in the same oil, until soft.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.

Add coffee, orange zest, cinnamon stick and maple syrup to the pan and scrape the bottom to remove any tasty tidbits of shallot or garlic.  Let the mixture come to a boil and then simmer for a few more minutes.

Scrape mixture into crockpot, coating the beef roast well.  Cook on LOW for 7-8 hours.

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