Ian’s Pot Roast

To me, pot roast is one of the ultimate comfort foods. Caloric as it is, I don’t make it much, but I love it on a cold, blustery winter’s day, when you are stuck inside watching the wind blow the snow around and you’re glad to be inside smelling the sweet, savory scent of a pot roast cooking. As implied by the name of this blog, I like my pot roast highly flavored. The 1950’s version made with a can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup and a packet of Lipton Onion soup can be quite tasty, but I tend more to European flavors and love the added richness and complexity of wine and homemade stocks.

Living in Beverly, Massachusetts, I’m lucky to have access to Henry’s Market. It’s a small, old-fashioned supermarket known for the quality of its service and its butcher shop. An anomaly in a world of box stores and supermarket chains, Henry’s butchers find you the finest cut meat and trim and tie it perfectly. They’ve even pulled me into the backroom to choose between larger sections of lamb and beef and help me select the exact part I want, before cutting it. So with pot roast in mind, I put myself in their hands!

Let’s start with few points on the recipe below. Stylistically, it borrows from a number of styles of stewed meat including Beef Bourguignon, Provençal Daube and Italian Stracotto, but is my own creation. I intensify and kick up the flavors in three ways. First, start with high quality ingredients. Second, reduce the cooking liquid by half to concentrate flavors before adding the pot roast meat. And third, cooking the vegetable garnishes separately and adding them to the pot in the final minutes of cooking. This technique ensures properly cooked vegetables that retain their individual flavors and textures. The garnish vegetables are pearl onions, baby carrots, crimini mushrooms and potatoes. If desired, you can skip the potatoes and serve the pot roast with noodles, shells or your favorite macaroni.

A great pot roast is meltingly tender, which means long cooking. Start the first steps about 5 hours before you want to serve the dish. I’ve always started the pot roast on the stove, and let in cook in a low oven. A recent issue of Cook’s Illustrated Magazine recommends cooking the pot roast until tender and then continuing for an extra hour. I tried this suggestion when making this pot roast and was very pleased with the results.

Pot Roast Ingredients

• 3 lb Chuck Roast


• 2 tablespoons olive oil



• 1 carrot finely chopped


• 1 rib celery finely chopped


• ½ a large sweet onion, finely chopped


• 3 garlic cloves finely minced


• Rosemary - 1 good sized sprig chopped finely



• 1 bottle of red wine (Use a decent wine!)


• 1 cup beef stock (preferably homemade)


• 1 cup chicken stock (preferably homemade)


• 2 tablespoons tomato paste


Bouquet Garni

• Thyme – several sprigs


• Parsley – several sprigs


• Tie together with kitchen string



• 1 ½ pounds of white or yellow waxy potatoes (I usually use Yukon Golds), peeled and cut into halves or quarters depending on size

Vegetable Garnish Ingredients
See the individual recipes below for ingredients

The Steps


Making the Pot Roast
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. On the stove, heat a large, heavy metal pot with a well-fitting lid. Add the olive oil. When quite hot, add the chuck roast and brown well on all sides. This step will take a few minutes, but getting a deep brown crusty coating on all sides is critical for flavor.

Remove the browned meat to a separate plate while you prepare the braising liquid. If the browning process threw off a lot of fat, remove the excess, retaining only a couple of tablespoons. Using the same pan, add the flavoring vegetables and sauté until soft. Deglaze the pan with the red wine and add the beef and chicken stock. Turn the heat to high and reduce the liquid by half. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking. Return to the pot roast to the pan. Add the bouquet garni and spoon some of the braising liquid over the top of the roast. Cover the pan with foil for a tighter seal and put on the lid. Bring to a boil on the stove, then place in the oven. It will cook for about 4 to 4 ½ hours in total. Check and turn over the meat every hour. As mentioned above, note when the pot roast is tender and easily pierced with a fork, add the potatoes and cook for an hour longer.

Preparing the Vegetable Garnishes
Make these garnishes while the pot roast is cooking. Note that the mushrooms, onions and carrots can be fine side dish recipes on their own!

Mushrooms

• 1 lb crimini mushrooms


• 3 tablespoons of butter


• Salt and Pepper

Melt ½ of the butter. Cook mushrooms in small batches over moderate heat until well-browned. Add remaining butter as needed between batches. Stir as little as possible to avoid throwing liquid. Cook until the mushrooms are deeply brown and concentrated. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Repeat until all mushrooms are cooked.

Pearl Onions

• 18 small white onions


• 2 teaspoons sugar


• 2 tablespoons butter


• 1 cup beef stock (You can use a rich vegetable stock if you want to make this recipe as a stand alone vegetarian side dish)

To peel the onions, boil a small pot of water. Set up a bowl of ice water on the side. Cut the top and bottoms of the onions. Cut a small “X” in the root end of the onion to keep the center from expanding while cooking. Add the onions to the boiling water and boil for 1 minute. Remove and drop in the ice water to stop cooking and loosen their skins. Peel by simply slipping the skins off. Dry well. Melt butter in a small pan with a lid. Add sugar and let it melt and begin to brown. Add the onions and brown well all over. Add the beef stock, bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Cook until the onions are almost tender about 10 minutes (they’ll finish with the pot roast). When ready, remove the lid, turn the heat to high and reduce the stock to a glaze. Remove from heat and set aside.

Carrots

• ½ lb “baby” carrots


• Chopped rosemary


• 2 tablespoons butter


• 1 cup water

Melt the butter in a sauté pan. When hot, add the carrots and rosemary and brown well on all sides. Add half of water, lower the heat and cook until evaporated. Test the carrots; they should be softening but still underdone. If they are still hard, add the remaining water and repeat the evaporation step. Season with salt and pepper, remove from heat and set aside.

Finishing and Serving the Pot Roast
About 15 minutes before the pot roast is ready, check the braising liquid. If it is very fatty, you may want to skim the excess fat. Add the prepared carrots, onions and mushrooms, mixing well into the braising liquid and return to the oven to heat through and meld. To serve, remove and slice the pot roast. Reserve the braising liquid as sauce. Plate with the potatoes and vegetable garnishes and pour over some sauce. Complement it with any hearty red wine. Enjoy!