In the Bay Area our weather can go from summer to winter in a range of eight hours…or less. Last weekend we had some cold foggy days that stayed that way for most of the day and with the edge of crisp in the air I found myself thinking of pot roast. My family was too Greek to serve pot roast, it isn’t something I think of as comfort foods, but since Bob grew up in the heart of pot roast company-Connecticut I have learned to add it to the repertoire.
I often cook ahead on the weekend; the work week can get hectic so it’s nice to have a couple of good home cooked meals handy. Loading up the crockpot with something is pretty trouble free and in this case we had a family member coming for dinner on Monday night, a night I knew I was going to work late so I was able to have everything ready for folks to go ahead and eat before I got home. The good news about most crockpot food and all pot roasts is they are better the next day. You will notice I list beef bones in my list of ingredients. Whenever I cook something that is a long slow cook I like to add a bone or two to enrich the flavors. Adding bones, beef, chicken, or fish to your dishes will enhance the flavor and nutritive value of the dish. You can of course use stock that you’ve made with bones instead; I’m typically too lazy to have good stock on hand.
Your call whether or not you serve it with mashed potatoes, or put chunks of potatoes in the pot roast. My mother often made stews and she would mash the stewed potatoes with the gravy of the stew and they are delicious that way, so that’s how I like them, but I know mashed potatoes is the more traditional way to serve it. Or you can skip the whole potato question and serve it with polenta instead, which I love.
Pot Roast
1 thick slice of bacon cut into strips
1 T oil (peanut, olive, or coconut)
1 chuck roast
Salt and pepper to taste
One large yellow onion, peeled and sliced
1 fennel bulb, sliced
3 large carrots peeled and cut into one inch pieces
8 large mushrooms sliced
1 whole head of garlic cut in half widthwise
2 pieces of beef bone
1 C red wine
1 ½ C tomato sauce or your favorite marinara sauce
1 C water
3 potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 8 pieces each
Place the bacon pieces in the bottom of a large crockpot. Season the chuck roast with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large skillet, once the pan is hot add the chuck roast and brown on all sides. Place the roast in the crockpot. Add the onion, fennel, carrots, and mushrooms to the skillet and sauté until the vegetables are soft and slightly browned, add to the crockpot. Add the garlic head, bones, wine, tomato sauce, and water. Place the crockpot on high for 6 hours (or if you have the time you can cook on low for 8-10 hours).
Two hours before serving add the potato chunks, if necessary you may want to add an additional cup of water at this time, you want there to be enough liquid in the pot to almost cover the potatoes, they will cook more evenly that way.
Serves 6-8
