Meat and potatoes have a way of making us feel good and help us to ward off those cold winter days. Sometimes when it’s cold and snowy outside the comfort of a good home cooked meal is all you need to forget the chill outside. Fixing a good roast is as easy as making a sandwich.

Beef, pork and lamb cuts make the best roast. Look for flecks of fat or “marbling” when choosing a large cut of meat for your roast. Marbling helps in making a tenderer roast along with enhancing the flavor and juiciness of the roast. Beef that has been aged also enhances the flavor of the meat.

When it comes to types of meats to roast, there are many to choose from. Beef roasts and pork roasts are favorites, but roasted prime rib and leg of lamb have a great taste when roasted. A roasted chicken is moist and will have more flavor than fried chicken. Turkeys and hams are often roasted to enhance their flavor and texture.

Look for a cut of meat that is at least 2 inches thick. The larger the cut of meat, the moister the finished product which in turn makes for a less chewy piece of meat. Moist heat is important when roasting a large cut of meat. A large cut of meat when slow cooked should be braised to give it a moist texture and to seal in the flavors.

Browning the meat is a plus. It doesn’t matter if you are slow cooking on top of the stove, in the crock pot or in the oven. Browning meat before hand over high heat will help to caramelize the proteins and sugars found on the outside of the meat. This gives your roast a richer flavor.

It is best to season a roast before browning it. By doing this prior to browning, the flavors are sealed into the meat and not left in the bottom of a roasting pan. Roasts are best cooked between 300 and 350 degrees.

If you are adding vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, onions and celery to a roast in the oven, add them about 1 hour before the roast has finished cooking. They will be soft instead of mushy from being overcooked or crunchy from being undercooked.

If you are using vegetables and using a crock pot, always add the vegetables at the beginning of the cooking process. You want your vegetables to be soft and by letting them cook longer at the slow temperature, your end result will be vegetables that are soft but not mushy.

Water, broths, soups, juices, wine and even soda can be added to help keep your roast juicy and flavorful. Always be sure to cover your pan with foil or a tight lid to keep the liquids from escaping and causing your roast to become too dry.

Don’t forget to use a meat thermometer. Different meats cook in different time spans. A meat thermometer is the most reliable way to tell when any meat product is cooked all the way through. Roasts make the best fix it and forget meals. Add a side of fruit and a slice of warm homemade bread and you have a meal that is both comforting and warming.