Once a year, I sign up to cook dinner for the priests and seminarians at our church. Last Sunday was that day for me and I decided to cook a pot roast. As the pot roast was cooking and the aroma wafting through the house, I decided that I should really make a pot roast each and every Sunday from here on out.  Some Sundays, I realize I may have plans and will be out and about and on those Sundays, I will probably choose to use my crockpot so I can get it going early and let it cook all day. Today, we were going to be home relaxing and it was the perfect day to spend some time in the kitchen preparing our dinner. I will be blogging the recipe for you for the pot roast that I made for Father John and that I am making for our Sunday dinner this week.

I bought a 2-1/2 pound boneless chuck roast (last week, I used two since we would need to make dinner for a larger crowd) to use for my pot roast. I started by preparing my vegetables so they’d be ready to go into the pot once I had browned the meat. I peeled and cut 6 large carrots into chunks, cut 6 stalks of celery into chunks, diced one medium sized sweet yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped one head of garlic, and sliced two leeks into half rounds. I removed the stems out of two 8 ounce containers of Cremini mushrooms and set those aside.

Once my vegetables were chopped and ready to go, I got the meat ready. I started by patting it dry with a paper towel and then sprinkling it all over with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, as well as a tablespoon of Italian seasoning. I then coated it on all sides with flour. After heating 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter into a Dutch oven, I placed the meat into the Dutch oven and browned it on all sides. This took about 5 minutes per side.

I then removed the meat from the Dutch oven to rest on a plate while I cooked the vegetables. I dumped the carrots, celery, onion, leeks and garlic into the pot and let it cook for 10 minutes, over medium heat, until the vegetables had started to soften a bit. Next, I added the mushrooms, chicken stock, red wine and brandy as well as one 28 ounce can of whole plum tomatoes and one 14-1/2 ounce can of whole plum tomatoes, juice included. (Note: I learned about adding brandy to my pot roast after watching Ina Garten make hers this way. I thought it sounded so good  … and can you imagine the wonderful smell!)

I let this come to a slight boil and added several sprigs of fresh rosemary (tied with a kitchen string) and the roast back on top of the vegetables and liquid.

I pushed the meat down into the liquid, placed the cover onto the Dutch oven and placed it into a preheated 325 degree oven, set for 3-1/2 hours.

Once I had just over an hour left of cooking time, I peeled and cut my russet potatoes. I used three potatoes because that’s how many people are in my family. Use 3-4 potatoes or more if you are serving more people.

With an hour left to go, I removed the Dutch oven from the oven and placed the potatoes into the pot, adding a teaspoon of kosher salt to them (potatoes like a little salt). I pushed the potatoes into the liquid and the lid back onto the pot and placed it back into the oven to finish cooking for the last hour. I wish you could all smell my house right now, it smells so good!

After removing the pot roast from the oven, I placed it on my bread board and shredded it with a fork.

I served our pot roast with a chunk of crusty ciabatta bread that I heated in the oven. It was the perfectly rustic Sunday supper!

Ingredients

2-1/2 pound boneless chuck roast

1/8 cup flour

kosher salt

freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

6 carrots

6 celery stalks

2 leeks

1 head garlic

16 ounces Cremini mushrooms

3-4 russet potatoes

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Peel and cut carrots into chucks. Cut celery into chunks and dice onion. Slice leeks into half rounds, peel and roughly chop garlic.
3. Pat meat dry with a paper towel and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Dredge in flour on all sides.
4. Heat oil and butter in Dutch oven and add meat. Brown on all sides, approximately 5 minutes per side. Remove meat to a plate and set aside.
5. Add carrots, onion, leek, celery and garlic to Dutch oven and cook over medium heat for 7-10 minutes, until vegetables start to soften.
6. Add chicken stock, wine, brandy and mushrooms to pot. Bring to a slight boil.
7. Place rosemary bundle and roast into Dutch oven. Cover and place in oven for 2-1/2 hours. When there is one hour left in cooking, add the potatoes, plus a teaspoon of kosher salt. Gently push them into the liquid, return the cover and place the Dutch oven back into the oven for the last hour.

Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris