P-Dub Wednesday - Pot Roast!

I have never actually cooked pot roast before. I’ve made roast beef once or twice and I’ve done casserole roasted pork, but never pot roast. In fact, I’m not sure I even recall having it in my childhood either. This recipe looked so delicious though that I just had to give it a try!

INGREDIENTS
2-3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 whole (4-5 lbs) Chuck Roast (mine was 3lbs)
2 whole Onions, peeled and halved
6-8 whole Carrots, sliced in 2″ segments
Salt To Taste
Pepper To Taste
1 cup Red Wine (optional, You Can Use Beef Broth Instead)
2 cups To 3 Cups Beef Stock
3 sprigs Fresh Thyme, or more to taste
3 sprigs Fresh Rosemary, or more to taste

The rosemary is missing because I hadn’t cut it out of the garden before taking this picture.

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.
Dry your roast with some paper towels (important or it won’t brown as well) then generously salt and pepper it.
Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, then add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil.



When the oil in the pot is very hot (but not smoking), add in the halved onions, browning them on one side and then the other. Remove the onions to a plate.





Throw the carrots into the same very hot pan and toss them around a bit until slightly browned, about a minute or so.



If needed, add a bit more olive oil to the very hot pan. Place the meat in the pan and sear it for about a minute on all sides until it is nice and brown all over. Remove the roast to a plate.



With the burner still on high, use either red wine or beef broth (about 1 cup) to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom with a whisk to get all of that wonderful flavor up.





When the bottom of the pan is sufficiently deglazed, place the roast back into the pan and add enough beef stock to cover the meat halfway (about 2 to 3 cups).



Add in the onion and the carrots, as well as the 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary and 3 sprigs of fresh thyme.



Put the lid on, then roast in the oven for 3 hours (for a 3-pound roast). For other size roasts, plan on about an hour per pound.



When cooked, you should be able to use 2 forks to tear the meat apart, though feel free to use a knife to carve it if you prefer. Mashed potatoes go well as side for this dish accompanied by some of the yummy carrots and onion from the pot. Use some of the juices over top as a gravy.



Now, I have to be honest here. This recipe didn’t quite live up to my expectations and I felt it lacked depth in its flavour. That could be because my cut of beef was not very well marbled, which is very likely. Another culprit could be that I used the beef broth rather than red wine. I also felt like it could have done with more substantial gravy than just the juices from the pot.

Overall this recipe really has potential and I will definitely try it again sometime with some tweaking!


♥