The Perfect Pot Roast

Like many Mormons, I enjoy a good Sunday roast.  Something about putting it in the oven, leaving for three hours (or more) and coming home to a meal that's nearly ready is very appealing.

It took many years but I can finally say that I make a really great roast.  It's pull apart tender, flavorful and, best of all, really, really easy.   Here's how I do it:

First, I always buy a chuck roast.  I used to buy a rump roast because it was a leaner and more aesthetically pleasing cut of meat, in my opinion, but a chuck roast, with the additional fat, is what makes it tender and keeps it from getting dry.

Three pounds is usually more than plenty for my family of five (and every single one of us likes our meat), with  enough left overs to use for another meal, but I buy a larger roast if I'm having company, like we did today.  Both Jay and I feel strongly that no guest should leave hungry, so we ensure a bit of gluttony by having lots of side dishes and large portion of main dishes.  Today, I used a four and a half pound chuck roast for us and my sister-in-law, Patty and her two teenage children (plus, we made up a plate for her busy husband to eat when he finally gets home after all of his church business).  We still had leftovers.  

I start by pouring a couple of tablespoons of oil into a stock pot.  When the oil is hot enough to get angry at a sprinkling of water, I lower the roast into the pan and salt and pepper the exposed raw side.  After a minute or two, I use a large fork to turn the roast over to the other side and add some more salt and pepper to the now brown side.

Next, I throw in a bay leaf, chunks of red onion, carrots and sprinkle rosemary on top.  I usually use the dry herb, but I think fresh would taste great too.  It makes it really aromatic.  Then, I sprinkle a little bit of minced onion and garlic powder and pour 1/2 C of red cooking wine on top of it all.

Before I put the lid on the stockpot, I let the cooking wine boil for a bit to reduce.  After a minute of rapid boiling, I put the lid on and put it into a pre-heated to three hundred degrees for three hours.  If you're going to be gone longer than three hours, like we were today, I turned the oven down to 285.  My four and a half pound roast cooked for almost five hours at 285 and it was perfect.  Tender, juicy and flavorful.

I should have taken a picture but I didn't know dinner was going to be the snippet of the day.  So...use your imagination.

Here's the recipe when you just need a quick look.

3-4 lb chuck roast
1 red onion
3 C baby carrots
1 bay leaf
1-2 Tbs rosemary
1 Tbs minced onion
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 C red cooking wine

Brown chuck roast on both side with salt and pepper to taste.  Add other ingredients and bring to a boil on stove top for one minute.  Cover and cook at 300 for three hours.

Enjoy!