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.