Sunday Pot Roast with Vegetables

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •5-7 quart Dutch oven with tight-fitting lid
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Fat separator or glass measuring cup
• •Heavy-duty aluminum foil
• •Large serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Season the roast

   Pull your chuck roast from the refrigerator one hour before cooking. Cold meat in a hot pan steams instead of sears. Pat the entire surface aggressively dry with paper towels, then season generously on all sides with kosher salt and black pepper. Don't be timid. A roast this size needs at least a tablespoon of salt to penetrate properly.

   Season the roast the night before and refrigerate uncovered for even deeper flavor and a drier surface that sears beautifully.
2. 2

   Preheat the oven

   Position a rack in the lower third of your oven and preheat to 300°F. Low and slow is the entire philosophy here. Higher temperatures tighten protein fibers and squeeze out moisture. We want the opposite.

3. 3

   Sear the roast

   Set a Dutch oven over high heat and add the vegetable oil. When the oil shimmers and just begins to smoke, lay the roast in the pot away from you to avoid splatter. Do not touch it. Leave it alone for four to five minutes until a dark brown crust forms and the meat releases naturally from the pot. Flip and repeat on all sides, including the ends. This takes fifteen minutes. It's worth every one of them. Transfer the roast to a plate.

   If your roast won't fit flat in the pot, cut it in half. Two properly seared pieces beat one crowded piece every time.
4. 4

   Build the braising liquid

   Reduce heat to medium. Add the quartered onion to the pot and cook until charred on the cut sides, about three minutes. Add the smashed garlic and tomato paste, stirring constantly for one minute until the paste darkens and smells almost sweet. Pour in the wine, scraping up every brown bit stuck to the bottom. These are pure flavor. Let the wine reduce by half, about two minutes.

5. 5

   Add broth and aromatics

   Pour in the beef broth. Add the thyme, rosemary, and bay leaves. The liquid should come about one-third of the way up the roast. More and you're boiling. Less and you risk drying out. Nestle the roast back into the pot along with any juices that collected on the plate.

6. 6

   Braise the roast

   Cover the Dutch oven with its lid and transfer to the oven. Braise for two and a half hours without peeking. Every time you open that lid, you lose heat and extend your cooking time. Trust the process. The roast is doing exactly what it needs to do in the dark.

7. 7

   Add the vegetables

   After two and a half hours, remove the lid. The meat should be tender but not yet falling apart. Tuck the potatoes, carrots, and celery around and under the roast, submerging them as much as possible in the braising liquid. Season the vegetables with a pinch of salt. Cover and return to the oven for one more hour.

   Cut your vegetables large. They'll shrink and soften. Bite-sized pieces going in become mush coming out.
8. 8

   Test for doneness

   The roast is ready when a fork slides into the center with zero resistance. Not some resistance. Zero. The meat should pull apart into shreds at the gentlest pressure. If it's not there yet, cover and continue cooking in thirty-minute increments. Pot roast tells you when it's done. Listen to it.

9. 9

   Rest and prepare the gravy

   Transfer the roast and vegetables to a serving platter and tent loosely with foil. Strain the braising liquid into a fat separator or glass measuring cup. Let it sit for five minutes while the fat rises to the top. Skim or pour off the fat, reserving two tablespoons if you want a richer gravy.

10. 10

    Thicken the gravy (optional)

    For a thicker gravy, mash together the softened butter and flour into a paste. Return the defatted braising liquid to the Dutch oven over medium heat. Whisk in the butter-flour paste bit by bit, simmering until the gravy coats the back of a spoon, about five minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. For a thinner jus, simply reduce the braising liquid by one-third over high heat.

11. 11

    Serve

    Slice the pot roast against the grain into thick slabs, or pull it apart into rustic chunks. Arrange on the platter with the vegetables. Pour some of the gravy over everything and serve the rest alongside. Scatter fresh parsley over the top. Set the platter in the center of the table and let people serve themselves. This is not food for individual plates in the kitchen.

Chef Tips

• •Ask your butcher for a bone-in chuck roast if available. The bone adds gelatin to the braising liquid, creating a gravy with body that coats your mouth. Boneless works, but you'll miss that silky richness.
• •The wine matters less than you think. Anything you'd drink with dinner works. Avoid cooking wine sold in the grocery aisle. The salt content ruins the balance.
• •Make this Saturday afternoon for Sunday dinner. Pot roast improves overnight. The flavors meld, the meat absorbs more liquid, and reheating is simple. Cover and warm at 300°F for forty-five minutes.
• •Save the leftover gravy and meat for hot beef sandwiches. Toast good bread, pile on shredded roast, drench in gravy, and you've made Monday something to anticipate.
• •A heavy, well-worn Dutch oven distributes heat better than a shiny new one. If you don't have a Dutch oven, a covered roasting pan works, though you'll lose some braising liquid to evaporation.

Advance Preparation

• •The roast can be seasoned up to 24 hours in advance. Leave it uncovered in the refrigerator for a drier surface that sears better.
• •Completed pot roast refrigerates beautifully for up to 4 days. Store the meat and vegetables in the gravy to prevent drying. Reheat covered at 300°F for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• •The gravy can be made ahead and refrigerated for 5 days or frozen for 3 months. Fat will solidify on top and can be easily removed before reheating.
• •Vegetables can be cut and stored in cold water in the refrigerator up to 1 day ahead. Drain and pat dry before adding to the pot.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 540g)