Old-Fashioned Pot Roast

Ainekset

1 (3½ to 4-pound) boneless chuck-eye roast, pulled into 2 pieces at the natural seam and fat trimmed

Table salt and ground black pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 medium onions, halved and sliced thin (about 2 cups)

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped medium (about 1 cup)

1 celery rib, chopped medium (about ¾ cup)

2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)

1 cup beef broth, plus 1 to 2 cups for the sauce

½ cup dry red wine, plus ¼ cup for the sauce

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 bay leaf

1 sprig fresh thyme plus ¼ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Ohjeet

1. Sprinkle the pieces of meat with 1½ teaspoons salt, place on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

2. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 300 degrees. Heat the butter in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium heat. When the foaming subsides, add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the carrot and celery and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes longer. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in 1 cup of the broth, ½ cup of the wine, the tomato paste, bay leaf, and thyme sprig; bring to a simmer.

3. Season the beef generously with pepper. Using three pieces of kitchen twine, tie each piece of meat into a loaf shape for even cooking.

4. Nestle the roasts on top of the vegetables. Place a large piece of foil over the pot and cover tightly with the lid; transfer the pot to the oven. Cook the roasts until fully tender and a sharp knife easily slips in and out of the meat, 3½ to 4 hours, turning the roasts halfway through cooking.

5. Transfer the roasts to a carving board and tent loosely with foil. Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into a 4-cup liquid measuring cup. Discard the thyme sprig and bay leaf. Transfer the vegetables to a blender. Allow the liquid to settle for 5 minutes, then skim any fat off the surface. Add the remaining beef broth as necessary to bring the total amount of liquid to 3 cups. Place the liquid in the blender with the vegetables and blend until smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer the sauce to a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

6. While the sauce heats, remove the twine from the roasts and slice them against the grain into ½-inch-thick slices. Transfer the meat to a large serving platter. Stir the chopped thyme, remaining ¼ cup wine, and the balsamic vinegar into the sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, passing the sauce separately.

Muistiinpanot

To separate the roast into two pieces, simply pull apart at the natural seam and then trim away any large knobs of fat. The roast can be made up to 2 days ahead: Follow the recipe through step 4, transferring the cooked roasts to a large bowl and straining the liquid as directed in step 5. Transfer the vegetables to the bowl with the roasts, cover with plastic wrap, cut vents in the plastic, and refrigerate overnight or up to 48 hours. One hour before serving, adjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Transfer the cold roasts to a carving board, slice them against the grain into ½-inch-thick slices, place them in a 13 by 9-inch baking dish, cover tightly with foil, and bake until heated through, about 45 minutes. While the roasts heat, puree the sauce and vegetables as directed in step 5. Bring the sauce to a simmer and finish as directed in step 6 before serving with the meat.

Old-Fashioned Pot Roast with Root Vegetables

Follow the recipe for Old-Fashioned Pot Roast, adding 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces; 1 pound parsnips, peeled and cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces; and 1½ pounds russet potatoes, peeled, halved lengthwise, and each half quartered, to the pot in step 4 after the roasts have cooked for 3 hours. Once the pot roast and vegetables are fully cooked, transfer any large pieces of carrot, parsnip, and potato to a serving platter using a slotted spoon, cover tightly with foil, and proceed with the recipe as directed.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: Pot roast can be boring and bland, full of dry, stringy meat, stubborn bits of fat, and wan gravy. We wanted a meltingly tender roast sauced in savory, full-bodied gravy. To start, we separated the roast into two lobes, which allowed us to remove the knobs of fat that stubbornly refused to render and also shortened the cooking time. Salting the roast prior to cooking improved its flavor and allowed us to skip browning later. Sautéing the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic before we added them to the pot gave them more depth of flavor. Some recipes use water as a pot roast cooking liquid, but when we tried this, the gravy turned out as you’d expect—watery. We had better luck with beef broth. Garlic, tomato paste, red wine, thyme, and bay leaves boosted the flavor even further. The resulting gravy boasted a complex character. Finally, sealing the pot with aluminum foil before securing the lid concentrated the steam for an even simmer and fork-tender meat.