I gave myself plenty of time today and I ended up with a delicious, fall-apart tender, moist beefy roast and a gravy that was full of flavor. It was one of the best meals I have made since I started cooking.
I learned a couple of things along the way. Low and slow is the way to go when roasting beef. I also did some research about cooking with wine.I don't drink so I don't know a lot about wine, but I realize the type of wine you cook with is important. I learned the wine should be fruity, medium bodied and not aged in oak. An oak aged wine will give the food a woodsy flavor, and a full bodied wine will over power your sauce.
A pot roast is made with inexpensive cuts of meat, usually from the chuck or shoulder. Safeway was having a sale last week buy one chuck cross rib roast and get another free, so I bought two and made a delicious beef stew on Wednesday (my best yet) and today I made pot roast. I followed the recipe featured on the first episode of the new season of America's Test Kitchen
I started on Saturday by trimming the meat and splitting the roast in two. I tied both smaller roasts with string and then salted them. This was the only salt I used in the whole dish. I covered both roasts with a tablespoon of kosher salt each, wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them in the refrigerator. They stayed there, building flavor till Sunday. (This is the ATK way of prepping a roast beef, so I thought I would try it for pot roast. You can skip this step and salt the beef one hour before prep time and leave the beef out to come up to room temp.)
Sunday around noon I took the roast out, unwrapped them and left them on a tray to come up to room temperature.
I pre-heated my oven to 300 degrees.
In a large dutch oven I added two tablespoons of unsalted butter and let it melt. Then I added two sliced onions and caramelized them. next came one carrot diced and one celery stalk diced. i cooked them till they were soft.
Add two cloves of minced garlic and cook till fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, 1 cup of beef broth and 1/2 cup of dry red wine. Add one bay leaf and one sprig of time. Bring liquid to a simmer. Add both roasts and cover pot with foil to trap moisture and put on the lid. Put the dutch oven into the 300 degree oven and set a timer for four hours.
After two hours take the pot out and turn both roasts so the moist side is up and the dry side is submerged in the liquid. Put the pot back in the oven for the remainder of the cooking time.
After four hours take the pot out and remove the roast. Place on a cutting board and cover with the foil to retain the heat.
Pour everything in the pot through a sieve to catch the solids, into a large 4 cup measuring bowl. press on the solids to extract the any liquids and then place them in a blender. Check the measuring cup, you need 3 cups of liquid. If it's lower than that add beef broth to bring it up to 3 cups. I used an Oxo good grips measuring cup/fat separator so when I poured off the liquid the fat stayed behind and reduced some of the calories.
Pour the 3 cups of liquid into the blender jar and puree. Remember to put on the lid, cover the lid with a dish towel and hold the top steady with your hand. This will prevent any hot liquid splatter. Start slow and then switch to high speed to blend the solids and liquids together until smooth.
Pour the blender contents into a saucepan and heat until simmering. Add 1/4 teaspoon of chopped thyme, 1/4 cup of red wine and 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.
Bring back to a simmer and allow to thicken while you slice the roast.
Cut the strings and remember to cut thick slices. Place on a platter and then cover with the gravy. Serve additional gravy on the side. Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment