Sunday Dinner - Pot Roast

We had our very first flakes of snow this past Sunday.  Perfect day for pot roast.

This recipe is based on the Boeuf à la Mode recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  I changed a few things (like I don't use veal shanks).

Pot Roast

First, make a red wine marinade for the roast.  Heat 2 cups of red wine on the stove (I used a lovely Syrah) with ten whole black peppercorns (cracked), 2 sprigs of rosemary, 2 sprigs of thyme, 2 bay leaves, 2 cloves of garlic (minced).  Cook for a couple minutes just to get all the flavors to come together- you aren't trying to reduce this marinade.

Let the marinade cool completely then cover your roast and refrigerate for as long as you can.  Overnight is best.  I did mine at 8am, in preparation for eating dinner at 6pm.

At 2pm, I took the roast out of the marinade and dried it completely.  Wet roast won't brown- so this step really is important.  Salt & pepper your roast on all sides.  Heat some oil (or butter) in a dutch oven on the stove.  When the oil is nice and hot, brown all sides of the roast.  I do this by working with a spatula and a pair of tongs.  It only takes a couple of minutes per side.

Remove the roast from the pot, and drain out the excess fat.  Add the roast back in, along with beef broth.  Stock is another thing I want to start making myself, but I've never even tried it...so I purchased 2 boxes of organic beef broth.  It was just the grocery store brand, but it had good ingredients and cost $2/box.  Not bad for organic.  Julia's recipe doesn't add the wine back into the pot...but I like to do it because I just can't bring myself to pour out the wine...so it goes in.  Just don't forget to remove the thyme stems, rosemary stems, and bay leaves before serving (like I did).

Bring everything to a boil, and then reduce the heat to a simmer.  Cook for 3 and a half to 4 hours.  When it gets to the last hour, add sliced onions and cut up carrots.  I added a whole, sweet onion, and an entire bunch of carrots. 

At the last hour, I also cut red potatoes into small pieces and tossed with rosemary, salt, pepper, and olive oil- then baked in the oven at 350 to serve alongside the roast.

At the last ten minutes, I sauteed mushrooms to be served on top of the roast.

After everything was done, I removed the roast from the pot so I could slice it (it was so tender I didn't even need a knife) and made a quick gravy in the pan I'd used for mushrooms.  I added 2Tbs of butter, 2Tbs of flour and whisked together into a paste, then added the broth from the pot roast to thin it back out.  When it reached the right consistency, I got that ready for my boys to spoon over the roast or potatoes or whatever...

We ate this with leftover baguette from the day before.  Grownups got wine. 

You need to make this pot roast.  It is a labor of love, but so worth it on these cold days.  It is tender, delicious, and comforting.