Kalyn's Pot Roast w/Sweet & Sour Tomato Sauce (p1)

When I make Pot Roast I make it real simple & easy. I trim all the fat and let it boil in Lipton Onion Soup Mix. Sometimes I'll add additional sliced onions but that's basically it. Although my roast is very good and my family loves it, I wanted something a bit different.
This Pot Roast recipe came from the blog of Kalyn's Kitchen. Being one of Kalyn's, it was very good as always. Kalyn states that some of her sauce ideas came from a recipe for Ginger Beef in the book: 500 Low Carb Recipes.
Kalyn's recipe calls to be made in a Crockpot. Being that I live in Europe and can only use my old (American) Crokpot if I use a transformer, and since I've never invested in a German one...I decided to try and make this recipe on the stove in a large pot. Below is what I did and it was very good! Oh and thanks Kalyn for another great recipe.

Kalyn's Pot Roast w/Sweet & Sour Tomato Sauce

(About 6 servings)

3 1/2 - 4 lb. boneless chuck roast, trimmed well
1 T olive oil
steak rub, to season meat
black pepper, to season meat
1/2 c water with 1 t. beef soup base (1/4 c if using a crockpot)
1 T onion powder (or use 1/2 small onion finely chopped)
2 T garlic puree (in a jar, also called ground garlic)
2 T ginger puree (in a jar, also called ground ginger)
2 T Splenda
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes w/ juice
2 T soy sauce
1 tsp. anchovy paste, optional

Trim as much fat as you can from roast, and cut if necessary to fit into Pot (or Crockpot). Rub meat well with steak seasoning and black pepper. Heat heavy pan with small amount of olive oil and brown roast well on both sides. This will take a few minutes; don't rush the browning step.

While meat browns, combine onion powder or onion, garlic, ginger, Splenda, rice vinegar,diced tomatoes, soy sauce, & anchovy paste (if using) in food processor. Process several minutes with steel blade until tomatoes are pureed and ingredients are well combined.

Put browned roast into a large pot (or 3 1/2 qt.Crockpot slow cooker). Deglaze frying pan with 1/2 cup water to which you have added beef soup base (1/4c if cooking in Crockpot). Add the sauce mixture from the food processor & cook approximately 3 minutes. Pour sauce mixture over the meat.

Cook on low til meat is very tender, I think it was about 3 hours in the Pot ( 7-8 hours or more, if using slow cooker/crockpot. Turn now and again so it doesn't get too brown on one side. Add a little more water if needed but as it cooks it should release some juice and should be fine. Remove meat from Crockpot and keep warm. Skim off any visible fat from sauce and transfer to a small saucepan, simmer and reduce 10 minutes, or until sauce is reduced by about 1/3).

Serve hot, with sauce spooned over meat. ENJOY