Friday, February 10, 2006

Pot Roast




This recipe will take a few hours, and requires you to pay some attention to your pot roast periodically. However, anything worth doing is worth doing right, and anything worth doing right is worth overdoing...
Serves 6 to 8

You will need:

Kosher Salt.
Fresh ground Black Pepper.
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
3 tablespoons of Olive Oil.
1 Chuck Eye Roast, about 3 1/2 pounds.
4 Carrots, sliced into medium sized chunks.
2 medium sized Yellow Onions, diced into medium sized chunks.
4 stalks Celerey, chopped into medium sized chunks.
3 Parsnips, cut into medium sized chunks.
5 Medium sized Red Potatos, in medium sized chunks.
8 oz. White Mushroom Buttons, quartered.
3 large cloves of Garlic, minced.
1 sprig fresh Rosemary.
1 sprig fresh Thyme.
2 Teaspoons of sugar.
1/2 cup of Chicken broth.
1/2 cup of Beef broth.
1/2 cup of Red wine.
1 1/2 cups of water, (approx).
1 can of diced tomatos, with juice.

Some assembly requiered...

Thoroghly dry the roast dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper.
Adjust oven rack to middle position, and heat to 300 degrees.
In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium high flame until shimmering, not smoking. Thoroughly brown the roast on all sides, then set aside on a plate.
Save the oil and crispy bits in the pan, they will be used to carmelize the vegetables.
In a dutch oven or large oven safe pot, add broth, wine, sugar, tomatos and spices (minus the salt and pepper), and bring to a simmer. Add pot roast, and enough water to raise the level of liquid halfway up the side of the roast. Place a large piece of tinfoil over the top of the pot and cover tightly with lid, (this prevents moisture from escaping), and then transfer the pot to the oven. Cook for 3 hours turning the roast over every hour.
In the skillet, throw enough of the vegetables,(minus potatos), to cover the bottom and sautee over a medium high flame. When every thing is turning dark brown, remove them and place in a large bowl. Repeat however many times needed in order to carmelize all the vegetables, using additional olive oil if needed.
When the roast reaches the three hour mark, add all the vegetables to the dutch oven. Cook until vegetables are done, approximately one hour.
When the vegetables are done, remove the roast and place it on a cutting board, tent with tin foil to keep warm. Remove vegetables from the braising fluid and put on a warmed serving platter, again tenting with tinfoil.
Let the juice in the pot settle for about 5 minutes, then use a wide spoon to skim the fat off of the surface. Make sure the rosemary and thyme are removed, then bring the liquid to a boil over a high flame. Allow to reduce to about 1 and a 1/2 cups. Salt and pepper to taste.

Finally, we can put the roast on the platter with the vegetables, pour some of the sauce over the meat, and then serve. Pass the rest of the sauce around seperately, and ENJOY.