Beef Pot Roast with Root Vegetables

This is my first ever pot roast.

Ta-Da!

 

Ok, so The Hubby said this is the best thing he has eaten in 2013.  Jackpot!  He seems to make this type of comment only once per year, usually pretty early into the year.  I remember last year when he said the same type of thing in February about Martha Stewart's Tomato and Italian Sausage Risotto.  He knows what he likes this guy.

This felt like the perfect late March / early Spring meal for a Sunday supper.  It's still a tad nippy out where I live, and this was just the comfort food that we were looking for.

This pot roast marks the second time that I have ever put one of my pots into the oven.  I was too scared to do this before, although I'm really not sure what I thought would happen because I will frequently put glass and metal into the oven in casserole dish or baking sheet form without issue.  So after reading through the FAQ section of the Lagostina website twice to reassure myself that I could in fact put the pot into the oven, I decided to make a couple things.  The first was the Classic Beef Stew that I posted about three Sundays ago, and the second was this Beef Pot Roast with Root Vegetables.

 

So, of course there is always a period of trial and error when you are trying new things.  And as I have elaborated on above, The Hubby and I are amateurs when it comes to cooking with a pot inside of the oven.  Up on top of the oven on the stovetop, well, we are all over that.  But a pot inside of the oven...it's new.  Which is the explanation that I have for why I burned myself twice, and The Hubby burnt himself once (half as many times as me).

When I made the Beef Stew a few weeks ago and wanted to move the pot from one side of the stovetop to the other after it had been out of the oven for only a minute or two, I instinctively used my bare hands.

#@#*!!!!

And then...I did it again.  Four minutes later.

WHYYYYY??????

My burns healed, and so I decided to try another 'pot in the oven' recipe, this Pot Roast.

About two minutes after being out of the oven, The Hubby decided that he wanted to move the pot from one side of the stovetop to the other, just like I had a few weeks back.

#*&@!!!!!

His burns were REALLY bad though...they blistered up horribly and he had both hands in large glasses of water all night long (somewhat comical to look at if I didn't know he was in so much pain).  I felt really badly for him, but at the same time it kind of made me feel like less of an idiot in that 'misery loves company' kind of a way.  And I was watching Django Unchained for the first time and was really into it, so I kind of blocked out his occasional moan.

Anyways, even with the burns, The Hubby officially declares this as his favourite meal so far this year. It was really, really good, and so I totally agree with his statement.  The recipe that that I have posted below calls for a beef chuck roast, but the grocery store that I went to was sold out of chuck roasts.  Instead they had prime rib roasts on for a 'buy one get one' deal, so I splurged and upgraded our cut of meat.  It literally was like butter to slice through and eat.  We served it with a healthy side of fluffy mashed potatoes (we were out of milk so we used whipping cream left over from the Shrimp Bisque...whyyyy can't I lose weight?) and sat down at our TV tables to watch the movie while eating our delicious pot roast dinner.  This is a recipe that will make more than one appearance in our kitchen.

Mark this puppy down as a 'keeper!'

 

Beef Pot Roast with Root Vegetables

Serves: 4 - 6 servings for "bone-in" or 8 - 10 servings for bone-out

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons coarse Kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar, packed
• 4-pound boneless beef pot roast (use chuck roast or any other beef pot roast meat - I used prime rib because it was on special - BOGO!)
• 6 ounces thick-cut bacon, cut into small pieces
• 2 cups dry red wine
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 large onions, thinly sliced
• 12 small shallots, peeled
• 12 garlic cloves, peeled
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 large carrots (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 medium parsnips (about 12 ounces), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 small celery root (also called celeriac), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350F.  Tie the beef on all sides with a piece of kitchen string.

Mix the fresh thyme, paprika, coarse Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, dry mustard, and brown sugar together in a small bowl to make the spice rub.  Rub the spice all over the beef.

Cook the bacon in a large ovenproof pot over medium heat until browned and slightly crisp.  Remove the bacon from the pot with a large slotted spoon, and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain.  Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease from the pot, and discard.  Increase the heat of the pot (with the 2 tablespoons of bacon grease inside) to medium-high.  Add the beef and cook until browned on all sides, about 12 minutes in total, then transfer the beef to a plate.  Add the red wine to the pot and bring to a boil, scraping up all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.  Boil the red wine mixture until it is reduced to a 1/2 cup, about 5 minutes.  Add the chicken broth and the bacon to the red wine mixture.  Place the beef back into the pot on top of the bacon.  Arrange the onions, shallots, garlic, and bay leaves all around the sides of the beef.

Cover the pot, then transfer to the oven and roast for 1 hour.  Turn the beef over in the pot, give the onions a stir, then cover again and roast for 1 hour longer (if the pot doesn't have any liquid then add water to it in 1/4 cupfuls).  Transfer the beef to a plate.  Add the carrots, parsnips, and celery root to the pot, stirring to coat.  Place the beef back into the pot on top of the vegetables, cover, and roast until both the beef and the vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes longer.

When beef and vegetables are tender, remove the pot from the oven and transfer the beef to a platter.  Using a large spoon, remove the fat from the surface of the sauce in the pot.  Season the sauce to taste with more salt and pepper.  Pour the sauce over the beef and serve.  Enjoy your delicious pot roast!

Recipe Source: Bon Appetit - February 2008

One Year Ago:  Greek Quinoa Salad