Dutch Oven Pot Roast

Inspired by Pioneer Woman and a buy-one-get-one-free sale on roasts, Royall and I set out to make a pot roast today. Any excuse to pull out the cast iron dutch oven is welcomed around here. Especially on a cold and rainy day like today. I've never made a pot roast before because it seemed too intimidating. It was pretty easy (Royall did most of the work!) and it made a great one-pot meal that was tasty and hearty.

You'll need 3 1/2 to 4 hours and the following ingredients:

3-4 ish pound chuck roast
1 cup of red wine
about 2 cups of beef broth
6 carrots
2 onions
button mushrooms (don't make no nevermind how many)
a few potatoes if you'd like
rosemary and thyme

1. Make sure the roast is room temperature (at least let it sit out 30 minutes to an hour). Don't pull it right out of the fridge and begin heating it because it won't cook evenly.

(This is the free one, already frozen. The one we made was already cooking when I realized I forgot to nab a nice "before" picture. You get an honorable mention and self-satisfaction if you find what's wrong on the label.)

2. Cut onion and carrot into thick pieces.

3. Saute onion for a few minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

4. Saute carrot for a few minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

5. Rub on salt and pepper to season the roast.

6. Brown the roast in the dutch oven. Remove from pan and set aside.

7. De-glaze the dutch oven by adding a cup of red wine. Scrape all the meaty gunk off the bottom and whisk it into the wine. That's where the flavor is!

8. Place the roast back in the dutch oven.

9. Add broth until it covers about half of the roast.

10. Throw all the vegetables back in the dutch oven.

11. Add herbs. A few sprigs of rosemary and thyme will do the trick.

12. Place lid on dutch oven and cook for 3 hours at 275 degrees. Since this cooks at such a low temp, I bet you could make it in a crock pot too. It takes away from the rustic beef cowboy thing that the cast iron brings to the table, though.

Here's the before and after:

The cast iron makes the picture look a little gray and murky, but trust me, this was goooood. Made the apartment smell like rosemary too!


Here it is on my favorite plate: