Old-Fashioned Pot Roast

Let me preface this post by saying that I'm not particularly a fan of red meat. I prefer poultry. When I say, "not a fan," understand that I mean that I can barely touch or cook the stuff without triggering my gag reflex. It just smells and looks horrid when it's raw. However, a couple of weeks my husband had a manly meltdown and begged me to cook red meat. So I did (three times, actually) because I felt horrible for unwittingly making him slightly miserable. :-) There must have been something to his desperate cries for red meat, because even our pets circled the kitchen like hungry vultures. Weird. :-) 

I know this will come as a shock, but there was actually a time when Pot Roast was cooked.....in a pot! Haha. It seems like nowadays the only recipes to be found are crock pot recipes. I did some reading on roast, and even made a special trip to a store to buy a special cut of meat (chuck roast), and also devoted my entire afternoon to making said roast. I also decided to make this roast with assorted root vegetables instead of carrots and potatoes. That was interesting. Not bad, just different. ;-)

You will need:  chuck roast, onions, carrots, rutabaga, turnips, parsnip, kosher salt, pepper, beef stock, fresh thyme, fresh rosemary (if you have it; if not, dried is fine). If you already know that you hate "assorted root veggies," go ahead and use potatoes and carrots.

Wash and drain your root veggies.

Get your roast ready to go--unwrap it and put it on a plate (I always use paper!) near the stove. Add generous amounts of kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper. LOTS! You're seasoning a lot of meat and you've gotta make sure it will taste good. 

Next: cut the onions in half from root to tip, peel 'em, and then slice off the "icky part" on top and bottom. Cut the other veggies into large chunks. Heat about 4 tbsp of olive oil in a dutch oven, and cook the onions for 1 minute on each side. Add your other root veggies next. You may need to do this in batches, because the veggies all need space and time to get their outsides delightfully caramelized. As the veggies cook, sprinkle them LIGHTLY with salt & pepper. Once all the veggies have been browned,  set them aside. *Note: do not peel the carrots/parsnip etc. Also keep in mind you are not trying to COOK them, just get a nice color and flavor going on the outside.

Add some fresh olive oil (you can wipe out the pot in between veggies and meat if you are totally neurotic), and sear the meat about 2 minutes per side until a beautiful, golden-brown crust forms. Now--remove the meat from the dutch oven and, with your burner on medium-high, deglaze the pot with about 1-1/2 cups of beef stock. Use a nice, strong wooden spoon that won't break--and scrape off every bit of "brown stuff" from the bottom of the pot. That stuff will add amazing flavor to your dish. Toss in a couple shakes of Worcestershire sauce if you're feeling it. Or not. I have a feeling it wouldn't really matter to much. :-)

Now, I'm a freak and I removed the liquid into a measuring cup, then place my meat and veggies "just so" in the Dutch oven. I sprinkled some rosemary and thyme on, too. About a teaspoon of each. Delightful. 

I then poured the liquid back on top, added an extra cup of stock (2-1/2 cups total liquid), put the lid on, and put this into my pre-heated oven @ 275 degrees. Plan on a minimum of 3-1/2 hours of cook time for a 3-lb roast. Add an extra hour for each additional pound of meat. Don't touch it, talk to it, look at it,  or even so much as open the oven. Go do your thing. Dance. Clean. Whatever. Just don't touch the oven for at least 3-1/2 hours. 

Your patience will eventually be rewarded, and you can remove your pot roast to a serving platter and sweetly nestle the root vegetables around it for a great photo. If you like, go ahead and run the liquid through a fine strainer, and make some gravy. A couple of tablespoons of corn starch dissolved in cold water and added to the liquid will be magical. Bring it to a boil, then turn the heat to low and stir for a few minutes, until the liquid thickens enough to be called gravy. Add browning or whatever if you're fancy. I'm not. It won't change the taste, but it will make you feel fantastic. 

Carve into 1-1/2" slices and serve with root vegetables. If you cooked it long enough, when you start to cut it up, it will sorta "shred" because it should be pretty tender. Delish.