Pot Roast: Is it the ultimate comfort dish?

"The weather outside is frightful"...it' cold, cloudy meaning dreary outside with snowflakes falling...what better way to spend an afternoon than cooking...these types of days speak to me of having comfort food for a Sunday dinner...growing up, I recall Mom usually cooking Sunday dinner and, especially during the winter, the meal consisted of something the made me feel warm and filling...the house is filled with the delicious aroma of the food being cooked...I hope those of you who are reading this blog have wonderful memories of Sunday dinners with your family...once my inner foodie kicked in as an adult, I love emulating these memories in our home...this more so with Christmas only weeks away.

 

The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook is the oldest cookbook in the collection...I actually think this is a cookbook that Tony had...I mainly use this cookbook because, at Christmas, which is the time of the year I cook a whole turkey, it has pretty accurate cooking times for poultry.

I had been thinking of cooking a pot roast for some time; it's been some time since I last cooked pot roast...I love the flavour of the meat,  how the potatoes and carrots absorb the flavours from the spices and liquid its cooking in...my biggest decision was whether to either make mashed potatoes or cook them with the meat...I chose to put the potatoes in the pot with the meat and carrots...I must admit that I varied how I'm cooking the meat from the recipe in the cookbook...there are many recipes for cooking pot roast, like this one...If you have a slow cooker, again there are many recipes, such as this one...however you decide to cook a pot roast, just make it flavourful and with lots of love...I kept my recipe fairly simple...first, I salt and peppered the meat, then seared both sides...I next sautéed onions with lots of garlic, deglazing with red wine.

 

I returned the meat to the pan and also prepared a sauce of balsamic vinegar, worchestershire sauce and BBQ sauce as well as filling the pan with (no salt added) beef stock...I nestled the potatoes and carrots in the pan along with fresh oregano, thyme and bay leaves tied with cheesecloth to easily remove it from the pan...I find doing this as opposed to chopping the herbs it a more effective way of infusing the flavours of the herbs into the sauce and food...I put a lid on the Dutch oven and into the oven at 325 degrees to slow cook for several hours...the house fills with the aroma, even upstairs...after several hours, or longer if you like, the meat is filled with all of the flavours and the potatoes and carrots, aside from being softened, are coloured and ever so tasty.

For a side, I made a salad...I was going to roast some cauliflower with cumin, but I'll leave that for another dish and time.
 
 Here is a pot roast recipe to use as a guide...try using different ingredients to make the recipe your own.

 

Ingredients

1 teaspoon olive oil 

1 (3-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed 

1 teaspoon kosher salt 

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

2 cups coarsely chopped onion 

1 cup dry red wine 

4 thyme sprigs 

3 garlic cloves, chopped 

1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium beef broth 

1 bay leaf 

4 large carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces 

2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces 

Fresh thyme leaves (optional) 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350º.

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chuck roast with salt and pepper. Add roast to pan; cook 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove roast from pan. Add onion to pan; sauté 8 minutes or until tender.

Return browned roast to pan. Add the red wine, thyme sprigs, chopped garlic, beef broth, and bay leaf to pan; bring to a simmer. Cover pan and bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until the roast is almost tender.

Add carrots and potatoes to pan. Cover and bake an additional 1 hour or until vegetables are tender. Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaf from pan; discard. Shred meat with 2 forks. Serve roast with vegetable mixture and cooking liquid. Garnish with thyme leaves, if desired.

 
 

Chicken Cacciatori

I've been thinking of cooking this dish for some time...the first time I had chicken Cacciatori, I asked my mother to cook it way back when I was a teen...now, I'm not sure when my foodie kicked in, but I know it was not when I was a teenager; especially my love of Italian food...Growing up, I was always around good food and cooks...my grandmother cooked for wealthy families in Chicago and the holidays, her home was filled with great food...my uncle was a phenomenal cook, having been a chef on a famous train line...my aunts must have have learned well from my grandmother...recently, my mother told me that she did not like cooking, however, when I asked for this dish, she found a way to make it for me...I'm not sure why I wanted chicken Cacciatori, but I'm glad Mom made it for me (she found a mix and the chicken was cooked in a cellophane bag, I recollect that it tasted good...I'm also not sure if I ever has chicken Cacciatori as an adult...it basically is stewed Italian chicken...I just know that I have never cooked this Cacciatori dish.

 

The other thing is the cookbook that I found the recipe in: Williams-Sonoma has its own line of cookbooks and they were sold in sets of 4 as well...I also went to their website for the recipe and it's slightly different than in the cookbook I have...but, you know me, I tend to very the recipe anyway...the online recipe uses bacon, I used pancetta, also bacon and I pity da fool who doesn't like bacon...I used red wine which is in the cookbook and little chicken stock, as in the online recipe...here is the online recipe...the recipe I'm using will be at the end of the blog.

If you don't know how to cut a whole chicken into its individual pieces, here is a video...I love using the Dutch oven when cooking dishes such as this one.

The string coming out is wrapped around the cheesecloth containing the sprigs of thyme and oregano...the recipe had the fresh thyme and oregano chopped, I wanted the essence of these spices infused in the sauce...I also simmered the chicken for a couple of hours which is longer than the recipes stated...as the chicken simmers, the aroma is filling the kitchen...I guess you could simmer this in the oven at 300 degrees for 2 hours.

I cooked two side with the Cacciatori: roasted potatoes with smoked paprika and lemon juice and cheddar biscuits with garlic...I thought the biscuits would be great for dipping in the sauce...please note that there will be lots of sauce that can get use elsewhere (such as with rice, pasta or polenta).

I must admit that I really had a fun time making this dish and I hope when you try this recipe, it's very tasty.

Chicken Cacciatore with Polenta

 

Cuisine: Italian

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 4 chicken thighs and 4 drumsticks, bone-in, skin-on
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 medium orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 medium yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 10 oz fresh cremini or white button mushrooms, brushed clean
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup hearty red wine
• 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 tsp ground dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 cup non-instant polenta (coarse cornmeal), cooked

Instructions

1. Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken pieces, four at a time to avoid over-crowding - and fry until both sides are browned, about 5 minutes on each side. Repeat with the remaining chicken and transfer to a plate.
2. Add the onion and bell pepper and saute over medium heat for 5 minutes, until softened. Add the mushrooms and garlic and saute another 5 minutes until the mushrooms are tender. Add the dried herbs and red pepper flakes.
3. Add the red wine and bring it to a boil over heat heat until the liquid is reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and ground porcini mushrooms. Stir to combine and return to a boil. Return the chicken to the Dutch oven and cover. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through, showing no signs of pink when cut into near the bone.
4. Transfer the chicken to a warmed platter and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Return the sauce to a boil over high heat and cook until it has thickened a little, 3-5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Dish out the polenta onto four plates, arrange two pieces of chicken on top of each serving of polenta, and spoon the sauce and vegetables over the chicken and polenta. Serve immediately.