the secrets of mama siggie's roast beast

Siggie is like a second mom to me and Barb. She has lived with Barb for more than 30 years. She also makes the best roast beef (beast) I have ever tasted...even better than my own mom's. It is so tender it can be cut with a fork. She usually makes it for me at least once when I am back there.

Recently Siggie had a subarachnoid bleed due to an aneurysm. She had a bad headache for three days and was really sleepy. But she would not go to the doctor. She told me it was because she was waiting for the doctor she liked to be available. One of the doctors at that hospital pretty much decided my mom's fatal stroke was just an ear infection. Siggie wasn't ready to die yet so she waited patiently, with blood dripping into her brain and giving her a headache, until the doctor she wanted was there. When she got to the doctor, they evaluated her and gave her blood pressure medicine and told her to come back the next day for a CT scan. She did that and the doctor said he was surprised to see the evidence of the bleed on her scan. Siggie then got her first airplane ride (in a helicopter) to Wausau, WI to have surgery. She was lucky to be alive but also lucky because she is one tough Finnish Yooper. With some good drugs on board, she went for that helicopter ride with two good looking male nurses who, as an added bonus, were Chicago Cubs fans. She had the surgery (they advanced a catheter through a large artery in her leg and put some sort of ball type thing on the area of bleeding to apply pressure and stop it). It worked and except for a few days of seeing dogs and cats in her room that weren't there, she did fine. They wanted to put her in a nursing home for a bit to recover, but she wasn't having any of that and her daughter drove her home to Poo and Willi, the cats (including one who is the boss - her name is mama meesi but I call her Georgetta legs because she has legs just like my mom) and Barbara.

I had thought I was going to go back and cook good things for Siggie (ha, me cook? Well I can make a good omelet and grilled cheese). But she wasn't having any of it...after all she could fit into her jeans and wasn't about to let me fatten her up.

One day she decided it was time for me to learn how to make a good roast beast. Here's how it is done - mama Siggies's roast beast.

Beef chuck - rub in some Worcestershire sauce (or soy sauce), season with seasoned salt, salt and pepper and garlic powder on both sides and rub in.
Put some oil in a pan ( a pan big enough to put in the oven), and add the roast, brown on both sides, add chopped onion.
Add water - about a cup or so, and place in the oven at 350 degrees and cover.
cook for 2 and 1/2 hours or till done. Check once in a while to see if you need to add more water. Cut it against the grain and serve.

This roast beast is so tender you can cut it with a fork.

Siggie also makes the best mashed potatoes...not much out of the ordinary but she used onion salt and mashes them with milk and butter. She makes gravy by putting 3 T of flour and a little salt into a container. She then adds some cold water and shakes it up (put a cover on it, of course). She looks at it to be sure it isn't lumpy and if it is, she adds more water and shakes it some more. Then she adds it a little at a time to the simmering meat drippings and stirs till it gets thick.

I am so glad it wasn't Siggie's time to go yet and that she is a tough Finn. No minor detail like an aneurysm (which kills most people) is going to take her out. I still need to make pasties with her and also Cardamom bread! I am so lucky to have people like Siggie in my life - she has given me more than she will ever know....much more than the secrets of her roast beast! Love you mama Siggie.