I know, two days into school and I’m already dishing out pot roasts, as if we had already switched on the furnace and were full-on into fall. (I made gingerbread too this week. I know!) Really what’s happening is I’ve been spelunking through my freezer, making room for the berries and tomatoes and soups and curries I’ve been making to keep everything that’s coming in to season all at once from composting itself on the countertop. And those items that take up the most real estate are the first to go.

Plus, making things like pot roast and muffins makes me feel like I’m on the ball with life, taking care of things. Who cares that I shovelled the stuff off my treadmill onto my bed and when it was time to go to bed shuffled it all to the floor, and have since piled even more stuff onto the treadmill (which is beside my desk because I truly believe one of these days I’m going to use it) and there’s still stuff on my to-do list from last summer? I made pot roast for dinner. I’m on it.

Although pot roast is traditionally a Sunday Night food, it really should be a Tuesday or Wednesday night food, because you can brown it and throw it in the oven within ten minutes of walking in the door, and the house smells like dinner for a couple hours while you putter around and do homework or watch the kid practice skateboard tricks or whatever, toss a couple handfuls of new potatoes and carrots right into the pot as it simmers, and have leftovers to turn into sandwiches or chili or quesadillas the next day. (And if it is Sunday, you can do all this in your PJS.) Or if there’s enough, you can slice it and freeze it in its gravy for another night when you don’t have a couple hours to putter between getting home and eating dinner.

Pot Roast

AuthorJulie

Yields1 Serving

3-4 lb. (1.5-2 kg) chuck roast, rump roast, boneless bottom or eye of round or brisket

salt and freshly ground black pepper

canola or olive oil, for cooking?1 onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

3-4 garlic cloves, crushed or chopped

3-4 cups beef, onion or chicken stock

1 cup red wine (optional)

1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

a couple sprigs of fresh thyme or rosemary (or both)

2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

8-12 new or fingerling potatoes

Preheat the oven to 300F.

Season the roast generously with salt and pepper. Set a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add a drizzle of oil and brown the roast on all sides, turning it with tongs or a fork until it has some good colour on all sides. Transfer it to a plate.

Add the onion, and garlic to the pan along with a splash of the stock and cook for a few minutes, scraping up any browned bits in the bottom of the pan. Return the roast to the pan, add the stock and wine (there should be enough to come about halfway up the side of the meat) and the balsamic and thyme.

Cover and cook for 3 hours, or until the roast is very tender. Add the carrots and potatoes to the pot when there's about an hour of cooking time left, turning the roast over when you do. To serve, spoon any excess fat off the surface and slice or shred the beef to serve with the veggies, drizzled with sauce. Serves 6-8.

Ingredients