sunday's best dish!

When I think about making pot roast....I think about my husband's crockpot recipe.  Making pot roast can be an easy undertaking, yet a difficult one at the same time, but once you have it done....you have a meal for more than one day.  My husband and like that around our house because it means we can come home after a long day and enjoy a hearty meal without the cleanup...dishes in the dishwasher is the only major chore.  While my husband and I have been successful most of the time when making pot roast...for some reason I'm always looking for a different pot roast recipe.  When my husband prepares this dish he puts a chuck roast (cut we prefer) in the crock pot, adds lots of different seasonings (I couldn't even name them all) and pours water in the bottom of the pot.  He cooks it on low for the entire day!  Is it delicious?  Every time he makes pot roast using this method ...it is wonderful.  When my husband isn't in the mood to make pot roast himself...I usually follow a recipe to make my version.  Today, I used the Pioneers Woman, Ree Drummond's directions.  I made one change to her recipe - added potatoes to the mix. 

The PERFECT POT ROAST is included in Ree Drummond's cookbook...The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes From An Accidental Country Girl

PERFECT POT ROAST
2 or 3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
One 3- to 5- pound chuck roast
2 onions
6 carrots
Pepper
2 to 2 1/2 cups beef stock
                                                                                     3 or 4 fresh rosemary sprigs
                                                                                     2 or 3 fresh thyme sprigs

1.  Preheat the oven to 275 degree F.

2,  Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add the olive oil and let it get really hot.  While it heats, prepare the other ingredients.

3.  Generously salt the chuck roast on both sides.  Kosher salt works best because it adhere more readily to the meat.

4.  Cut a couple of onions in half from root to tip.

5.  Then cut off the tops and bottoms and peel off the papery skin.

 6.  When the pot is very hot, place the onions in the oil and brown on both sides, about a minute per side.  Remove the onions to a plate.

 7.  Next, thoroughly wash...but don't peel...the carrots.  Cut them roughly into 2-inch slices.

 8.  Throw the carrots into the same (very hot) pot.  Toss them around until slightly brown, about a minute or so.  The point here is to get a nice color started on the outside of the vegetables, not to cook them.

9.  Remove the carrots from the pot and allow the pot to get really hot again.  Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan.

10.  Place the meat in the pot and sear it, about a minute per side.  Remove to plate.

11.  Now, with the burner on high, deglaze the pot by adding a cup of the beef stock, whisking constantly.  The point of deglazing is to loosen all the burned flavorful bits from the bottom of the pot.

12.  When most of the bits are loosened, lace the meat back in the pot.  Followed by the carrots and onions.  Pour enough beef stock into the pot to cover the meat halfway.

13.  Next, put in the fresh rosemary and thyme sprigs.  The fresh herbs absolutely make this dish.  Tuck them into the juice to ensure that the flavors are distributed throughout the pot.

14.  Next, cover the post and roast for 3 to 5 hours, depending on the size of your roast.  

For a 3-pound roast, allow for 3 to 3 1/2 hours.  For a 5-pound roast, allow for a 4 to a 5 hour cooking time.  Don't disrupt the roast during the cooking process.  When the cooking time is over, check the roast for doneness; a fork should go in easily and the meat should be very tender.  Remove the meat to a cutting board and slice against the grain.  

Place on a plate with vegetables.  Spoon plenty of pan juices over the top.  

Take another look at this delicious Pot Roast.
The perfect dish for the start of a week. 

Source: Drummond, Ree. "Perfect Pot Roast." The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes From an Accidental Country Girl.  New York:  HarperCollins, 2009.  120-122.