Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. The meat you use is important. And like Ree over at The Pioneer Woman Cooks, my favorite roast is the chuck roast because it has wonderful marbling throughout the meat, and when cooked right (prep, cover, cook ~ don’t fiddle with it while it’s in the oven) any chuck roast winds up being tender and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Be aware that the tougher the piece of meat is, the longer it needs to cook so that the connective tissue will soften and break down. You truly can’t rush a pot roast, you’ll be disappointed if you try as it will be dry or lack flavor. BE PATIENT. You want the meat to basically fall apart. You SHOULD NOT need a knife to cut it.
Bring the piece of meat to room temperature. GENEROUSLY sprinkle the first side of meat with the Kosher Salt and Pepper mix. Heat enough olive oil in the bottom of a fry pan to make a thick coating. Heat to a medium-high heat. Cut the onions tip to root, cut off root and stem, peel and lay flat into hot oil. Brown both sides well. Remove to side. Add the baby carrots and do the same. I normally cut each carrot just in half. Brown carrots and like Ree said you’re trying more for color here than cooking. They will have plenty of time to cook in the oven. I also like to add my garlic (I use the bottled minced garlic from the produce section) and spices at this point. By this time I have put them all into a mortar and pestle to revive their scents and aromas. When carrots are finished, remove them to the same plate as the onions. If necessary add more olive oil to the pan and add the roast seasoned side down. While it’s browning season the other side really well Brown both sides and all edges really well.
Now, for the oven I like to use my grandma’s old Magnalite dutch oven which cooks really even! And see those little hobnail bumps in on the bottom side of the lid? Those are better known as drip catchers. They collect the steam from the juices and redistributes it all right back down on the roast as it cooks. These help keep the meat moist and juicy. After the roast is browned, place it in the dutch oven and spread vegetables all around it.
While fry pan is still hot, add white or red wine and the beef bullion to deglaze the pan ~ make sure you scrape up all the stuck little bits from the bottom. Cook long enough to mix well and then pour over the roast. The liquid should come up at least half way on the sides of the roast and vegetable mixture. For this recipe we added the white wine to the recipe and drank the red. The red wine, Harrod wine, is from our nephew’s vineyard so we don’t waste it cooking, but enjoy every last drop.
Put the lid on the dutch oven, put it in the oven, don’t open the door for AT LEAST 3 hours! Today’s roast was 2.39 pounds and I roasted it for 3 1/2 hours. Go relax or at least get the dishes you’ve dirtied so far done up. At 3 hours, I prep the potatoes for boiling. I too, prefer not to cook mine with the roast ~ I prefer a bit of substance instead of the mush they become with the roast. I do a basic mashed with heavy cream, salt, pepper, and butter (hey you gotta splurge a little sometimes!)
We get 2 meals out of these proportions. Now to us eating starts with the eyes ~ so make it pretty. I love my polish pottery, all of it is unique one-of-a-kind creations and decorates a table and your meal so easily!
