Here comes March filled with Corned Beef & Cabbage, but we are not going to go down the traditional road. Oh no, my friends, we are taking a little beefy-boozey filled detour with a good ole pot roast and a bottle of wine. Oh yeah… that’s what I’m talking about, folks, Comfort Food at its best and simple to boot.
It’s a no brainer, throw it in a pot, stick it in the oven and walk away for a couple hours. Dinner. Told ya it was easy.
I bet you’re looking at the picture and thinking it’s your old run of the mill potato and carrots Yankee Pot Roast aren’t you. This one is different. This one is special, calling forth beautifully rich, savory and aromatic flavors. This one is drool inducing and aromagasmic.
May I suggest that you hand out drool cups to your guests, because they will be salivating all over the place while this goodness is roasting (you will be too!)
Drunken Pot Roast
- 1 3lb. Chuck or Roast cut of Beef (you can use Pork if you prefer)
- 1 large Celery root, peeled and cut into sticks
- 5 plump Whole Carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 Sweet Onion, crudely chopped in large pieces
- 10 whole Cloves of Garlic, peeled
- 1/4 cup Garlic Oil (see recipe below)
- 3 cups Merlot (stuff good enough you can drink it)
- 5-6 whole fresh Bay Leaves (or 8 dried)
- Few pinches of Coarse Ground Seat Salt and whole White Peppercorns
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees C. Unlike a medium rare roast beef, we are not going to sear this slab of flesh. We want it to ooze its juices out into the vegetables and into the wine. Take a dutch oven or a ceramic crock, pour half of the garlic oil into the bottom. Scatter half of the onions on to the bottom of that and then place the meat in the middle of the pot. Scatter the celery root, carrots, garlic and remaining onion alongside the meat. Carefully pour the wine around the vegetables and take the remaining garlic oil and pour it over the meat and vegetables. Season the meat with a few pinches of coarse sea salt and whole peppercorns. Finish it off with a scattering of bay leaves.
Cover it tightly with a lid or with foil and put it in your preheated oven for about 3-4 hours. Check it to make sure that there is liquid in there, you want it to “stew” in its juices. The longer you leave it the most tender the meat will become. The consistency you are after here is falling apart at the touch.
So simple, chop, scatter, cook and enjoy!
Take that left over juice that it was stewing in and make it into a gravy. You can do this by thickening it with a little cornstarch/water slurry and bringing it up to a boil. Very quick and easy.
Garlic Oil
- 3 heads of garlic, cloves seperated
- 2 whole shallots roughly chopped
- 3 cups Canola or Olive Oil
Pour the oil into an 8×8″oven-safe pan and randomly place the garlic and shallots throughout the oil, cover with foil. Slow roast at 200 degrees for about 45 minutes or until caramel colored ooze starts to come out of the garlic and shallots. Take it out of the oven and let it cool. Once it is cooled off, strain the oil into a glass bottle. You can keep the deep fried garlic and shallots in the fridge to add it to salads or pasta for a little savory crunch. Cap it and use it whenever you want a savory punch in salad dressings or for cooking.
Enjoy!!! And tell me that your entire house didn’t just smell like roasty, drool inducing heaven!
