It was a cold, but sunny, Sunday afternoon with the NFL Championship games coming on at 3:00 pm. I had decided that the perfect meal would be a slow cooked chuck roast pot roast with lots of vegetables that would be ready at the end of the first game. All I had to do was have everything ready to go before the game started, so that I could watch uninterrupted.
I had the basis for this recipe with two pot roast recipes I had made in the past: Pot Roast Wegman's Way and Halloween Pot Roast. I used both but varied them slightly for this version.
Principally I added some additional vegetables, and moderated the cooking temperature to 325 degrees, which split the difference between the other two recipes. The end result was a very good pot roast. David joined us for the games and dinner, and had seconds. Good verification of this recipe!
---Tom
~3# chuck roast
2 T pepper
1 T coarse salt
3 T all purpose flour
2 T olive oil
10 small Yukon gold potatoes
4 carrots peeled and cut into 2" segments
10 small onions, peeled with the ends cut off
4 stalks celery, cut into 2" segments
2 parsnips peeled and cut into 2" segments with the fatter end cut in half
3 jalapeño peppers seeded, halved and cut into 1" segments
20 oz. baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
1 1/4 cup red wine - I used LMR cabernet
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 28 oz. can of whole Roma tomatoes including the juice
1 14 oz. can of beef stock
1 T dried thyme
1 t chopped fresh rosemary
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Season the chuck roast with salt and pepper and dust the meat with the all purpose flour. Pat off the excess flour.
Heat the oil in a very large 6-8 quart oven proof braising pan on medium-high heat on the stove top until the oil shimmers. Add the roast and brown it on both sides for a total time of between 12-15 minutes. Once browned on both sides, remove from the pan and set aside. If there is a lot of fat in the pan, dump most of it out leaving about a tablespoon for the next steps.
Add all of the stew vegetables, except the Roma tomatoes, including the potatoes and cook for about 6-8 minutes. Add the baby Bella mushrooms and cook for another 5-6 minutes. Be sure to stir the mixture frequently to prevent burning. The mushrooms should no longer look raw after this step.
Add the thyme and rosemary. Now add the red wine and Worcestershire sauce, stirring occasionally to loosen the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Cook for another 5 minutes.
Finally add the Roma tomatoes and the beef broth. Stir while bringing the mixture up to a simmer which will take another 5 minutes or so..
Add the roast back into the braising pan and cover with a tight fitting lid. By this point the pan will be quite full. I put the braising pan on a baking sheet anticipating that the mixture will probably overflow once cooking in the oven. I was right! It did overflow, but the baking sheet caught this extra liquid preventing a mess in the oven itself.
Put the covered braising pan and baking sheet into the oven, and cook for 3 - 3 1/2 hours until the meat is fork tender.
Once finished cooking, remove the meat from the pan and let sit for at least 10 minutes on a cutting board. Although I did not need it, if you think the meat needs more salt and pepper now is the time to do it.
Using a slotted spoon remove all of the vegetables and potatoes from the cooking pan, and spoon into a large bowl.
You are now ready to serve. Slice 1" thick pieces of roast and put on individual plates. Spoon the vegetables on each plate along with the meat.
This was the perfect cold weather meal while watching football. It would even be good if you were not watching football!
---Tom