Tender Pot Roast

We were not beef eaters in my family simply because there were ten of us including our parents and beef was out of the question for that many mouths to feed. My baby brother could eat a whole chicken by himself so my mother had to come up with big pot dishes like beans and cornbread and a piece of chicken or a pork chop as a side dish. The meat was never the main course. Thanks to my daddy, we always had plenty of veggies because he planted a garden every year. We had fruit in abundance with every neighbor having a producing fruit tree. We would go from yard to yard picking our favorite fruit right off the tree, cleaning it with our clothes and biting into the juice field peaches, plums, pears, apples and even pomegranates. I was introduced to beef in my teenage years and being a lover of all foods, I was hooked. I started preparing beef on occasion for special dinners and found beef can be affordable for a large family. Take a Pot Roast for example. The cut is not expensive like sirloin yet cooked over low heat for hours; it can be tender and juicy. Here is my recipe for my version of pot roast. I started with a few tips from The Pioneer Woman, via The Food Network and added some additional ingredients to add more layers of flavor to the dish. This Pot Roast makes a lovely Sunday meal. Add a green veggie for a side dish and you’ll have plenty of stuffed bellies around your dinner table.

Enjoy,

Ingredients:

Salt and freshly ground black pepper
One 3 to 5-pound chuck roast
2 or 3 tablespoons olive oil
2 whole onions, peeled and halved
2 cups of baby carrots
1 and 1/2 cups beef broth
2 or 3 sprigs fresh thyme
3 medium potatoes cut in quarters
4 whole garlic cloves

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.

Generously salt and pepper the chuck roast rubbing all sides of meat.

Heat the olive oil in large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the halved onions and garlic to the pot, browning them. Remove the onions and garlic to a plate.

Add carrots and potatoes to the pot. Saute’ for two minutes. Remove the carrots and potatoes and add them to the onions.

Add more olive oil to the very hot pot. Place the meat in the pot and sear it for about a minute on all sides until it is nice and brown all over. Remove the roast to a plate.

With the burner still on high, use beef broth to deglaze the pot, scraping the bottom with a whisk. Place the roast back into the pot.

Add in the onions, garlic, potatoes and the carrots, along with the fresh thyme.

Sprinkle with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Put the lid on and roast for 3.5 hours for a 3-pound roast. For a 4 to 5-pound roast, plan on 4 hours. The roast is ready when it is tender and falling apart.