Dutch Oven Pot Roast Recipe
Servings: 6 - 8 servings
Ingredients
- 2½ pounds beef chuck you could try brisket, top round, bottom round or rump
- red wine to deglaze the pan
- aalt & pepper
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 stalk celery chopped
- 2 peppers chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 14½ ounces diced tomatoes
- 1 cup brown stock beef or veal or combination
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro chopped
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- ½ cup half & half or cream for sauce
Instructions
- I started by preheating the oven to 300º F, then heating up my biggest fry pan and browning the chuck on both sides for a couple minutes per side. Once browned, I seasoned it with a little salt & pepper and then placed the meat into the Dutch Oven.
- Deglaze the pan with a little port, red wine, or brown stock and let the liquid cook down to an essence.
- Add the onion, celery, peppers and garlic to the pan. I added a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to the pan because I didn't think there was enough fat. You can opt not to if you are watching those calories.
- You don't want to cook the vegetables that much. Just brown them some. This should take about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Spoon the browned vegetables over the meat in the Dutch Oven, dump in the can of diced tomatoes, add the cup of stock and top with the fresh cilantro and rosemary.
- Again, these are just ingredients I had around the house. Experiment with what you like. I wanted to add a couple of bay leaves and had them in my pantry but forgot. It may have added to the flavor but the pot roast was still delicious without them.
- When all the ingredients are added, cover and place in the preheated oven. Cook for about 3 hours, then check to see if the meat is fork tender and shreds easily. If not cook for a little longer.
- When done, remove the chunk of meat from the pot. You may want to use a couple of large spoons so the meat doesn't come apart when you lift it out.
- With the meat removed, add the half and half or cream.
- I used a hand blender to puree the vegetables with the stock and juices from the meat. If you don't have one, you can use a food processor or maybe even a blender. The sauce is so good you could it like soup!
- Taste, adjust seasonings with salt and pepper and serve.
Notes
I guess I could have done everything in one pot, but I thought it would be easier to brown the chuck and vegetables in a fry pan and then assemble everything in the Dutch Oven.
To serve, spoon some of the incredible sauce onto a plate and place a couple of chunks of meat on top of it. My daughter made her favorite Near East Rice Pilaf that she doctored with some pesto, her own creation that worked perfectly with the pot roast. You could also cook up some potatoes or white rice or even couscous.
This is as simple as it gets for braising and if you were served it in a restaurant you would be happy with it my way of telling if a recipe works.