Classic Pot Roast

For me, this is the ultimate comfort food on a chilly evening. I just love pot roast (hello, 1950’s). It is such an easy dinner to toss in the crock pot and call it a day. I used to cook my roast and vegetables in a quart of beef broth and be done. It was always delicious. However, I received a trial cooking magazine (Cuisine at Home) that had a recipe for pot roast and I gave it a try. Hands down, the new recipe was way better than what I had been doing for years! Instead of using just beef broth as my base, this also has white wine, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce mixed in. There’s a bit of stove-top prep before putting everything in the crock pot, so it’s not just a dump-and-go recipe, but it’s so worth it.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp vegetable oil (for searing the meat)

1 boneless chuck roast (or other cut of meat is fine too)

¼ cup flour

2 tbsp tomato paste

½ cup white wine

1½ cup beef broth

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

6 cloves garlic, chopped

3-4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

vegetables, chopped, of your choice: I used 2 onions, 4-5 carrots and fennel. You could also do potatoes (I prefer to do mashed potatoes on the side) or celery.

Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Sear the roast on all sides, then transfer it to your crock pot. Using the same pan, add the flour and cook for about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook for another minute. Deglaze the pan by adding the wine, whisking until it is absorbed. Mix in the broth and Worcestershire and bring it to a gentle simmer. Pour the broth mixture into your crock pot, then add your vegetables, garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or low for 8-9 hours. Remove the thyme and bay leaves before serving.  The meat will be extremely tender–remove it carefully, it will want to just fall apart.