Everyday Pot Roast

Okay, so I got a lot of carrots at the FM...so had to find more dinners with carrots--this is from my favorite cookbook right now "Sarah Foster's Southern Kitchen"--it seems like all the recipes are good! You can check her out online at Foster's Market and one of her first cookbooks is online here.

This was such a good recipe--I was even able to make it with kids running in and out of the house, so it did not take too much concentration. I changed the directions a little, and rather than cooking it in my oven after the initial browning, I put everything into a crock-pot and cooked for about 5 hours (until the meat fell apart)

everyday family pot roast
One 3 lb beef chuck roast (mine was actually two pounds)
salt and pepper
2 TB olive oil
1 large onion, cut into wedges
2 carrots, cut crosswise
1 C dry red wine
6 sprigs fresh thyme
6 sprigs fresh rosemary
4-6 C low-sodium beef broth

Preheat oven to 325 (or preheat crock-pot) and generously season the roast on all sides with the salt and pepper.

Heat the olive oil in a large oven proof skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until sizzling hot. Add the roast and sear to a rich brown color, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Place the onion and carrots around the roast in the skillet and cook and stir while the roast is searing.
Add the wine, thyme, and rosemary and cook and stir for about 1 minute, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Add enough broth to cover 3/4ths of the roast. Reduce the heat to medium and bring the liquid to a low boil.

For the oven: cover the pot tightly with a lid or aluminum foil and roast in the oven, undisturbed for 2-2 1/2 hours, until the meat is fork tender. For the crock pot: place roast and all ingredients in crock pot. Cook on high until meat is fork tender 4-5 hours.

I served with mashed potatoes and fished out the carrots and onions. I made a brown gravy with the leftover 2 C broth and 2 TB cornstarch...another two toddler thumbs up.

yes, those are my Spode christmas plates that I have not gotten around to putting away...

Tomorrow I will put up what to do with the leftovers--it was an ambitious recipe, and I have no pictures because it was not pretty...but tasted really good!