Simple But Fabulous Pot Roast

This... ...is my grandma Vera. She's playing with Play Dough with my brother John back in the 1960s. My grandma was a simply a-maz-ing cook. Nothing fancy. Iowa meet and potatoes. But everything tasted perfect. Her meat was tender every time. Her gravy tasty and smooth. She made a cole slaw the likes of which I have never since tasted. And don't even get me started on her pies.
Unfortunately, she took all her recipes with her when she died. Not a one of us had the good sense to watch her in the kitchen. Or to ask her to write anything down. What a shame.

I had two favorite meals. Her fried chicken and gravy. And her pot roast. Now, this pot roast was magical. Tender as tender could be. And I still remember the full beefy flavor. We've all tried to duplicate it. My dad. My aunt. Every one of my sisters. Me. We've tried every cut of meat. Every combination of ingredients. Not a one of us has done it....

...until now. I tried a new recipe this weekend. A last ditch attempt. And it work!!!

Fall apart tender. A flavor that put right back at my grandma's dining room table. I purt'near (my grandma's word) wept for joy. Fortunately one of my sisters was over for dinner this weekend to witness and confirm the event.

The recipe comes from Cook's Magazine's All Time Best Recipes Special Collection Edition. If you don't have it, I recommend investing in it. Everything I've tried from the magazine has rocked.

So here it is:

Ingredients:

1 boneless chuck-eye roast (about 31/2 pounds) I couldn't find something called a chuck eye roast. I found a chuck-arm roast. It worked great.

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped medium

1 small carrot, peeled and chopped medium

1 small celery rib, peeled and chopped medium

2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press, (about 2 teaspoons)

2 teaspoons sugar

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup low-sodium beef broth

1 sprig fresh thyme

1-1 1/2 cup water

1/4 cup dry red wine

Preparation:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 300 degrees.

2. Thoroughly pat roast dry with paper towels. If the roast does not come tied with string, use kitchen twine to tie across the length and width. This will make it easier to turn the roast, especially as it gets tender. Liberally sprinkle roast with salt and pepper.

3. Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven until shimmering but not smoking. Brown roast thoroughly on all sides reducing heat if fat begins to smoke, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer roast to large plate, set aside.

4. Reduce heat to medium, add onion, carrot, and celery to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and sugar; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

5. Add chicken broth and beef broth and thyme, scraping bottom of p an to loosen browned bits.

6. Returns roast and any accumulated juices to pot; add enough water to come halfway up sides of roast. Bring liquid up sides of roast. Bring liquid to simmer over medium heat, then place large piece of foil over pot and cover tightly with lid; transfer pot to oven.

7. Cook, turning roast every 30 minutes, until fully tender and meat fork or knife easily slips in and out of meat, 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

8. Transfer roast to carving board, tent with foil to keep warm. Allow liquid in pot to settle about 5 minuted, then use wide spoon to skin fat off surface; discard thyme sprig. Boil liquid over high heat until reduce to about 1 1/2 cups, about 8 minutes. Add red wine to pot and reduce again to 1 1/2 cups, about 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

9. Using carving knife, cut meat into 1/2 inch slices or simply pull apart into large pieces; transfer meat to warmed serving platter and pour about 1/2 cup sauce over meat. Serve, passing remaining sauce separately.

Here's the play by play

Salt and pepper the roast liberally. I've already dried it with a paper towel. You can see how I've tied the road to keep it from falling apart while cooking once it starts to get tender.

Then I got my carrot and celery ready. Chop them medium.

Chop the onion medium, too.

In a large dutch over with a heavy bottom, heat the vegetable oil until it's shimmering but not smoking.

Put the roast in the pan. It should really sizzle.

Brown thoroughly on all sides. About 8 to 10 minutes.

I'm using fairly high heat. I used to be timid about browning meat. But no more.
I recently had incredibly tender meat at a restaurant. When I asked about it the server said the key is a hot pan. "You have to sear the sucker," is exactly how she put it.

So now I go for a hot pan...

...and I sear the sucker.

This seals in the juices. Oh, man. I'm salivating as I'm writing this.

Transfer roast to large plate. Reduce heat to medium.

Get your veggies, which, happily, are all ready to go.

Add onion, carrot, and celery to pot and cook, stirring occasionally...

...until beginning to brown, about 6 to 8 minutes. Can I just tell you how heavenly this is smelling right now?

Our roast is still hanging out, waiting.

Put garlic in a garlic press. If you don't have one, just mince it real tiny.
(We're a light garlic family, so we use only 1 clove. The recipe calls for 2).

Add the garlic...

...and the sugar, which I also have pre-measured, to the pot.

Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. And the fragrance is To-Die-For.

(*Note, things might have gotten a little browner than I intended while I was taking pictures. But you don't have to worry about that).

Add chicken and beef broths and thyme , scraping bottom to loosen browned bits.

Oops, I forgot the thyme, but I catch it and add it later.

Ahh....settle that roast right back in the pot. Be sure to pour an juice that accumulated on the platter back in the pot, too.

Add enough water to to come halfway up the side of the roast.

Here's where I notice I haven't put in the sprig of thyme so I throw that in the pot now.

It's a forgiving recipe.

Put a large piece of foil on the pot. This is important because it really helps keep the moisture in the pot. Then put the lid tightly on the pot.

Transfer pot to oven.

Cook, turning roast every 30 minutes.

I used a long kitchen tongs to do this.

As the meat became more tender, it would have been impossible to do this had the roast not been tied.

Cook the roast until fully tender and meat fork or sharp knife easily slips in and out of meat, 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

Remove roast from pan and put on cutting board or serving platter. The meat was so tender I had to use a large flat spatula to do this.

If it falls apart, to worry. You can serve it in chunks anyway. Or just turn it into a delicious shredded beef dish. It's going to taste awesome no matter what happens.

Let liquid in pan settle for about five minutes, then use wide spoon to skin fat off the surface. Discard thyme sprig.

Super sorry about how out of focus this shot of the cooked roast is. You can see why I needed a spatula to take it out of the pan. It's fall apart tender.
I'll just pull it into large tender chunks to serve rather than slice. That's what Grandma did.

Boil liquid over high heat until reduced to aout 1 1/2 cups, about 8 minutes. Add red wine to pot and reduce to 1 1/2 cups again, about 2 minutes. ( I could have sworn I put a picture of that in here). Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Pray your husband offers to wash that pot.

Pour 1/2 cup of the sauce over the meat and pass the rest separately.

Enjoy!