"It's What's for Dinner Wednesday!" Beef Pot Roast with Maple Sweet Potatoes and Cider Gravy (kind of)

I'm not gonna lie to you. When the beef Representative emailed me the recipe for this weeks Beef. It's What's for Dinner Wednesdays Challenge I was NOT excited! Beef Pot Roast with Maple Sweet Potatoes and Cider Gravy doesn't sound appealing to me at all. Pot roast sounds great, but it went downhill from there. Maple sweet potatoes sound ok, but cider gravy....seriously? I ended up changing this recipe to be more suited to our tastes. We aren't sweet potato fans, so I used half sweet potatoes, half regular white potatoes and didn't add the maple syrup and ginger to them (I didn't think that sounded like a good combination). I also utilized my crock pot because I didn't have enough time after work to cook the roast the 2 1/2 + hours the recipe called for. I would like to tell you we loved the dish, but I will be honest. It didn't go over very well :( Everyone enjoyed the beef (which is the whole point right?), but I was the only one who ate the entire meal. I loved the potatoes... and see, I didn't think I liked sweet potatoes.

Even though I dreaded making this dish I'm still very excited about being chosen to be an ambassador! I would like to invite all my readers to join this fun challenge if you haven't already. It's open to anyone. Head over to the Facebook fan page for all the details. After you submit your opinion on each week's recipe you could win one of 5 Beef Grilling Gift Bags! The gift bags includes The Healthy Beef Cookbook, a set of Crate & Barrel Grilling Tools, Sur La Table mini steak thermometers, a reusable shopping bag and other items to help you shop for and cook healthy beef meals. Be sure to go check out the full details on how to submit on their Facebook Fan Page!

I'm sure this is a great recipe if it was chosen to represent this weeks challenge, but just not our taste. I would like to encourage you to visit Beef's website to check out the original recipe... who knows, your family may love it! This is the recipe as I made it:

BEEF POT ROAST WITH MAPLE SWEET POTATOES AND CIDER GRAVY (KIND OF)
1 beef chuck roast (3-31/2 lb)
2 tsp oil
1 3/4 tsp salt- divided
3/4 tsp pepper
1 cup chopped onion
2 tsp fresh thyme
1 cup beef broth
3/4 cup apple cider
3 lb sweet potatoes (I used half sweet & half white)
4 cloves peeled garlic
2 TBSP corn starch dissolved in 2 TBSP water
(2 TBSP maple syrup - I left out)
(1 tsp fresh ginger - I left out)

Heat oil in large skillet. When oil's hot brown beef on all sides; remove and pour off fat. Season meat with 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and set in slow cooker. Peel and chunk potatoes and arrange them around the meat in the slow cooker along with garlic cloves. Add onion and thyme to skillet and cook 3-5 minutes. Add broth and cider and increase heat to med-high. Cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until brown bits in bottom of pan are dissolved. Pour liquid over meat and potatoes in slow cooker. Cook on low 6 - 8 hours. Remove meat and keep warm. Remove potatoes and garlic and mash with milk, butter, salt and pepper (the original recipe wanted you to add the maple syrup, ginger, salt & pepper and mash). Skim fat off cooking liquids and pour into small saucepan. Bring to boil and add cornstarch/water mixture. Stir until thickened and serve with sliced meat and potatoes.