Like most people I know, I tend to enjoy certain foods during certain times of the year. After the holidays, with endless sweet treats and decadent meals, we regularly juice and try to eat healthy. During the summer months, we tend to grill out and eat lots salads, when fresh produce is abundant.
As soon as cooler temperatures hit, I immediately crave comfort food. I fill our weekly menu with soups and stews. Pasta reappears after a summer hiatus and I tend to do more baking. I could spend all afternoon in my kitchen!
When I think about comfort food, think of pot roast. I can’t begin to count how many times we ate pot roast growing up. Before we’d head to church, my dad would fill my grandmother’s roasting pan with onions, carrots and potatoes and a perfectly seasoned roast. We’d come home from church and you’d smell the roast as soon as you stepped in the front door. We’d hover in the kitchen as my dad made gravy and we’d sneak bites of roast as we impatiently waited for his meticulously prepared meal. I would refuse to eat the vegetables in favor of a large pile of roast and a slice of white bread.
Honestly, not much has changed. I still don’t eat the veggies served with pot roast. I prefer to serve pot roast with a side of mashed potatoes and maybe some roasted brussels sprouts. I prefer the consistency to mashed potatoes instead of pot roast potatoes. Yet another one of my idiosyncrasies. They seem to pair perfectly, especially will a side of gravy.
I stumbled upon The Pioneer Woman’s Pot Roast recipe and knew I had to make it. As with all of Ree’s recipes, this pot roast is nothing short of fantastic. The roast is perfectly seasoned with fresh herbs and is so tender that it was falling apart A sure sign of a great roast! It’s the perfect meal for a cold fall day and even better as a meal shared with friends.
Recipe from The Pioneer Woman
ingredients
1 whole (4 To 5 Pounds) Chuck Roast
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Onions, halved
6 Carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch slices
Salt To Taste
Pepper To Taste
3 -4 Cups Beef Stock
3 sprigs Fresh Thyme, or more to taste
3 sprigs Fresh Rosemary, or more to taste
instructions
- Generously salt and pepper your chuck roast.
- Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Then add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil in the pot is very hot, but not smoking, add in the halved onions. Allow them to brown on both sides. Remove the onions and set aside.
- Add the carrots to the oil in the Dutch oven stirring them until they brown on each side. Remove to the same plate as the onions.
- Next, add the meat to the pan. Allow the roast to sear on each side for 1-2 minutes. Remove the roast to a plate.
- Keep the Dutch oven over high heat. Using 1 cup of the beef stock, deglaze the pan. Use a whisk or rubber spatula to scrape the bottom of the pot to incorporate all the flavor from the seared vegetables and roast.
- Once the bottom of the pan is deglazed, return the roast back into the pan. Cover the roast half way then add in the onion and the carrots. Top with 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary and about 3 sprigs of fresh thyme.
- Put the lid on the pan, then roast in a 275F oven for 3 hours for a 3-pound roast, or 4 hours for a 4 to 5-pound roast.
- Remove meat from the pan. Slice or shred roast. Serve with mashed potatoes and carrots from the roasting pan.