POT ROAST

As a Brit I’ve not really paid much attention to the American Pot Roast, I suppose because I regularly cook my Nan’s low and slow braised steak and kidney or slow braised pork shoulder in cider I’ve not felt the need for another meal in this area.  Well what have I been missing out on!  I purchased half a cow as you do and having a whole 5kg piece of chuck steak decided to portion off some to try pot roast.  What a glorious sumptuous spoon eating meal, full of decedent deep flavour, super moist and falling apart with lots of stock gravy and of course this had to be served with creamy buttery mashed potatoes, perfect, a really comforting soul satisfying bowl of food and as always for me eaten with a spoon!

Prep time 15 minutes / Cooking time 3 hrs unattended 

Ingredients 

(serves 4)

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 kg chuck steak as 1 or 4 steaks

100g pancetta diced

1 onion cut in to wedges

4 carrots peeled and roughly chopped

350ml red wine

500ml beef stock (bone marrow)

3 sprigs thyme

1 sprig rosemary

Perfect Mashed Potatoes 

1 kg Albert rooster potatoes peeled and halved

250g butter

1 tsp Himalayan sea salt 

1/2 tsp white pepper

1 tsp white wine vinegar 

In a Dutch oven add the olive oil and butter on a medium heat, add the chuck steak and sear both sides browning the steaks for a couple minutes, remove and reserve to one side, in the same pan add the pancetta and sear, remove and reserve with the chuck.  Next sear the onions and carrots until lightly caramelised, add the wine to the pan a deglaze scrapping off all the lovely caramelised flavour off the bottom of the pan, add the stock then add back all the reserved ingredients along with the thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper.  Bring to a gentle simmer for 2-3 hours on the stove top or pop in the oven at 170 C / 338 F.

30 minutes before your pot roast is ready, bring a large pan of seasoned water to a boil, add the potatoes and simmer for approx 25 minutes until fork tender, drain and leave to steam dry for 5 minutes, season the potatoes with salt and pepper.  Add the butter to the saucepan and place back on a low heat until melted, add the potatoes and vinegar, mash to your desired consistency, I like smooth my husband likes lumpy!  

To serve place a generous portion of the mashed potatoes piled high in the centre of your bowl, place the pot roast on top with some carrots and onions then spoon over a generous amount of the stock gravy and enjoy.