Pot Roast Deliciousness

Pot Roast with Crispy Smashed Potatoes

I have been sooo busy lately that my blogging has taken a back seat. This is not to say that I have not been cooking up a storm though. Here is a pot roast I made last night. I used to eat pot roast when I was a kid. It is not my favorite meal. When I make mine, I like to cook it so it slices not falls apart. This is super easy and required maybe 15 minutes of prep and three hours of cooking. Here is what I did last night.

Pot Roast with Crispy Smashed Potatoes (Serves 6)

3 pound beef chuck roast (ask what is the best for pot roast. Fat is key here)
1 onion chopped
2 ribs of celery sliced
1 handful of baby carrots halved
1/4 tomato paste
EVOO
1 tsp Italian seasoning or a bouquet garni (tied up herbs)
Salt and Pepper
2 cups of stock (veggie, beef or chicken)
1 cup of wine for deglazing (beer or coffee would be good too)
Bacon fat (optional)*

*I had a pan with some leftover bacon grease from breakfast. Why waste this delicious stuff? I heated up the bacon grease and poured it into my dutch oven. I used it to sear the roast. I also did not want to waste the fond (which is the brown bits on the bottom) so I poured 1 cup of some wine in the bacon skillet and picked up what browned bits I could with a fork or if using non-stick, a wooden spoon. Set aside for later.

Salt and Pepper your roast (liberally). Heat up your dutch oven like super hot. Sear the pot roast in the bacon grease about 5 minutes on each side. If you don't have bacon grease (which if you are southern, you should ALWAYS have), add several TBLS of olive oil to sear the pot roast in. Remove the pot roast and turn off your heat. Add in your tomato paste and stir around. There is fat in the pan and the tomato paste will sizzle. Just move it around and let it cook a little. At this point, you will deglaze with the wine that you poured into the skillet with the bacon grease drippings (if you don't have this, add 1 cup of wine directly into the dutch oven!). Turn your heat back on. Add your vegetables and saute briefly for several minutes. Season the veggies with herbs. Place your roast on top of the veggies. Pour in two cups of  stock and COVER. Cook at 300 for two hours. You want to braise your meat, which means slow cooking it in liquid. Don't cover your meat though. It should go half way up. You may need to nestle it down in the veggies. You can also put some of the veggies on top of the meat. Remember to cover it with a lid.

You will uncover the roast for the last hour of cooking. It is ready when it is fork tender. Three hours should do it for this size of roast. Remove the roast and cover. Set it aside and work on your potatoes and sauce. Save this sauce. You will be reducing it shortly.

Smashed Potatoes

During the last hour, put some red potatoes in the oven. They will take about one hour to cook at 300. Take them out of the oven when they are fork tender. Using a coffee cup, press down on the potato. Don't press too hard. You don't want to break them. Each potato should be cracked (not broken) so that the insides are seen, but that the potato is still intact. Salt and pepper them. Cook them in 2 tbls of oil either in a castiron skillet or on your griddle. You want to crisp them on the outside and have them creamy on the inside. Cook them on medium heat maybe 15-20 minutes after they are smashed. Flip them occasionally.


Sauce for Pot Roast 

While the potatoes are crisping up, begin working on your sauce. Once the meat is out of the pot, get out an immersion or stick blender and begin to blend the sauce. There are carrots, onions, and celery in that yummy sauce. Blend until smooth. Reduce by half (around 20 minutes). To reduce, just crank the heat and let it boil. The sauce should be thick and luxurious.

Serve with potatoes and some sort of veggies (asparagus or green beans would be good). Slice the meat and pour some sauce over it. It is divine!