Sunday Pot Roast

Sunday Pot Roast
Pot roast, braised with lots of red wine...comfort food extraordinaire! This is the ultimate one-pot meal. Ideal for a weekend dinner because of its low maintenance as well as its need to cook for more than four hours. While it does, your home slowly fills up with the warmth of the oven and the irresistible rich aromas of beef, potatoes, carrots and onions slowly mellowing into their own savory sauce.

Ingredients of Sunday Pot Roast
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 4-pound rump roast, boned
* 3 medium onions, coarsely chopped
* 2 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika
* 2 bay leaves
* 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1 teaspoon dried thyme
* 4 cloves garlic, crushed
* 2 cup red wine (or if you prefer, 1 cup wine and 1 cup water)
* 2 cups beef broth
* 2 pounds new potatoes, scrubbed
* 8 carrots, cut into 1-1/2-inch-thick pieces
* Coarse salt to taste
* Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation of Sunday Pot Roast
Heat oven to 300 degrees F. Liberally season roast with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a 6-quart Dutch oven or other heavy bottomed oven-proof pan. Sear roast until well-browned on all sides. Remove roast from pan and reduce heat to medium. Add onion and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add paprika, bay leaf, rosemary, oregano, thyme, and garlic, cook 1 minute. Add wine and 1 1/2 cups of the broth, bring to a boil. Add potatoes and carrots, return roast to pan, season with salt and pepper. If the liquid doesn't cover the roast and vegetables, add more stock until it just does. Continue to heat until it simmers. Place a large piece of foil over the pan and cover tightly with a lid; transfer the pan to the oven and cook for 2 1/2 hours. Uncover, turn the roast over, cover and cook for another 1 1/2 hours or until beef is fully tender and a meat fork or sharp knife easily slips in and out of the meat (fork-tender).

Transfer roast to a carving board; tent with foil to keep warm. Transfer vegetables to a deep serving platter; loosely cover to keep warm. Allow liquid in the pot to settle about 5 minutes, then use a wide spoon to skim the fat off the surface; discard bay leaves. Boil over high heat until reduced to desired consistency. Check and adjust seasoning. Slice the roast (or pull apart with fork) and arrange on the deep serving platter with the vegetables. drizzle with some of the sauce, and serve the extra sauce on the side.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Category: Winter Season Food