Barefoot Bloggers: Company Pot Roast

First of all Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers!  Such interesting timing for this installment of Barefoot Bloggers! This week’s pick comes from Lisa at LIme in the Coconut (who has a great blog!).  I’m always up for cooking a big hunk of meat in wine and tomatoes!

I got inspired by this recipe and decided to go down to St. Lawrence Market for their weekly Farmer’s Market to pick up the veggies for this recipe.  Something about farm fresh goods just sounded right here.  I got the sweetest, most delicious carrots pretty much ever!

You have to be pretty committed to this recipe to make it.  There’s a lot of chopping involved, a lot of alcohol goes into this and there’s about 3 hours of cooking time!  Yes, commitment is needed indeed.  But the smells of while this is cooking make it all worth it.  My apartment just smelled like warm, beefy, alcoholy goodness.  Or like heaven as I like to call it.

I followed this recipe for the most part.  I used a sirloin roast because frankly it was on sale and a lot cheaper than the chuck roast, sue me.  The meat turned out pretty moist and was super easy to slice.  I probably would have liked the additional fat that is in the chuck roast but you can’t win them all.

My first thought was to serve this over mashed potatoes but then I remembered reading somewhere that this would go great with polenta.  Such a good call.  The polenta really absorbed the flavour and was a great compliment to the roast.

I totally loved this recipe.  Do note that this makes a TON of sauce.  There’s likely no way around this as the roast needs to be covered in liquid while cooking.  Ina suggests using the sauce over pasta, mine ended up in the trash but the pasta tip might be worth trying.

COMPANY POT ROAST

Ingredients

• 1 (4 to 5-pound) prime boneless beef chuck roast, tied
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• All-purpose flour
• Good olive oil
• 2 cups chopped carrots (4 carrots)
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
• 2 cups chopped celery (4 stalks)
• 2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 to 4 leeks)
• 5 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 2 cups good red wine, such as Burgundy
• 2 tablespoons Cognac or brandy
• 1 (28-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes in puree
• 1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 3 branches fresh thyme
• 2 branches fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Pat the beef dry with a paper towel. Season the roast all over with 1 tablespoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Dredge the whole roast in flour, including the ends. In a large Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the roast and sear for 4 to 5 minutes, until nicely browned. Turn and sear the other side and then turn and sear the ends. This should take 4 to 5 minutes for each side. Remove the roast to a large plate.

Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the Dutch oven. Add the carrots, onions, celery, leeks, garlic, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper and cook over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender but not browned. Add the wine and Cognac and bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes, chicken stock, bouillon cube, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Tie the thyme and rosemary together with kitchen string and add to the pot. Put the roast back into the pot, bring to a boil, and cover. Place in the oven for 2 1/2 hours, until the meat is fork tender or about 160 degrees F internally. Turn the heat down to 250 degrees F after about an hour to keep the sauce at a simmer.

Remove the roast to a cutting board. Remove the herb bundle and discard. Skim off as much fat as possible from the sauce. Transfer half the sauce and vegetables to a blender or a food processor fitted with the steel blade and puree until smooth. Pour the puree back into the pot, place on the stovetop over low heat, and return the sauce to a simmer. Place 2 tablespoons flour and the butter in a small bowl and mash them together with a fork. Stir into the sauce and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring until thickened. Taste for seasonings. Remove the strings from the roast, and slice the meat. Serve warm with the sauce spooned over it.

(Recipe found at FoodTV.com)