Pot Roast Recipe

 

Pot Roast with crispy potatoes completed dish

Braising is a technique which produces wonderful results.  It is not surprising that Pot Roast has been popular for as long as it has.   Using beef chuck adds a depth of flavor and texture. It is also an affordable cut with which to feed the whole family.  

 

To prepare a Pot Roast you simply need to follow four easy steps. Searing, sauteing, deglazing and lastly braising.  

 

Most Pot Roasts prepare the vegetables in the cooking liquor.  This recipe rather uses crispy fried potatoes, steamed green beans, and butternut fritters.  

 

As always give preference to Free-Range or pasture fed beef which has been raised without the use of growth hormones and antibiotics.

 

Beef Pot Roast with crispy potatoes, green beans, and butternut fritters.

Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 4

Ingredients

For the Pot Roast

  • 3 pounds of deboned and trimmed Beef Chuck
  • 30 ml olive oil
  • 5 ml fresh ground black pepper
  • 5 ml Himalayan salt
  • 1 onion
  • 250 ml sliced celery
  • 3 large carrots
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 45 ml tomato paste
  • 1.5 L chicken stock warmed
  • 500 ml Red wine
  • 2-3 dried Bay leaves
  • 2 sprigs fresh Thyme

For the Gravy

  • Cooking liquor from the Pot Roast
  • 45 ml butter
  • 45 ml flour

For the Crispy Potatoes

  • 6 medium potatoes
  • Oil for deep-frying
  • Seasoning

For the Beans

  • 100 g cleaned green beans
  • 60 ml Panko breadcrumbs
  • 2,5 ml Himalayan salt
  • 1 sprig of fresh Thyme
  • 2,5 ml garlic flakes
  • 2,5 ml onion flakes
  • 30 ml butter

For the Butternut fritters

  • 250 ml mashed butternut
  • 1 egg
  • 60 ml flour
  • 2,5 ml baking powder
  • 30 ml fresh milk
  • 5 ml Himalayan salt
  • Oil for frying

Instructions

For the Beef Pot Roast and Gravy

  1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celcius / 320 degrees Fahrenheit / Gas mark 3.

  2. Rub the olive oil over the surface of the trimmed Chuck and season with freshly ground black pepper and Himalayan salt.

  3. Heat a heavy bottom frying pan over a medium-high heat and seal the meat. Do not add any oil to the pan

  4. Once sealed place into the roasting tray on the grid insert.

  5. Starting with the carrots, lightly brown the vegetables in the same pan.


  6. Stir the tomato paste through the vegetables and deglaze with about a cup of stock.


  7. Add the vegetables to the roasting tray.


  8. Pour in the rest of the stock and wine. Add Thyme and Bay leaves


  9. Put on lid and place in oven.


  10. Cook for approximately four hours, until fork tender


  11. Melt the butter in a medium pot and whisk in flour. Whisk in cooking liquid from roasting tray a little at a time until you have reached your desired consistency.

For the Crispy Potatoes

  1. Fill a pot large enough to take all the potatoes with cold water. Cover with lid.


  2. Put on a medium heat and bring to a gentle boil


  3. Cook until tender.

  4. Allow to cool slightly and remove skins.

  5. Break into chunks


  6. Deep fry until golden.

  7. Remove from oil onto paper towell and season well.

For the Beans and Pangrattato

  1. Steam beans until tender

  2. Melt butter in a pan over medium heat

  3. Add panko, Thyme, garlic flakes, and onion flakes


  4. Stir constantly until golden

  5. Serve green beans sprinkled with toasted Panko

For the Butterfly Fritters

  1. In a bowl combine Butternut mash, flour, salt, baking powder, and egg.

  2. Whisk until smooth


  3. Whisk in milk to loosen the mixture


  4. Heat a quarter inch of oil in a pan over medium heat


  5. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot oil.


  6. Fry until edges start to bubble and the bottom turns a golden brown.


  7. Flip over and brown the other side,


  8. If not serving immediately, keeping warm in a low oven.

Equipment:

Roasting tray with lid, Heavy bottomed frying pan, oven tray, large pot, sharp knife, slotted spoon, cutting board, masher.

Step 1: Preparation

Read through the entire recipe and have all your ingredients together.  The real secret to a successful dish is preparing properly before cooking even starts.

This recipe prepares a Pot Roast with four side dishes.  Ensure that all your ingredients are ready to go before you start the cooking process.

Step 2: Preparing Pot Roast vegetables

Pot Roast Step 2 Preparing Pot Roast vegetables after heading

For the onion: Peel the onion and then cut it in half.  Lay the halves flat side down onto the cutting board.  Cut each half in slices, approximately 3/8th of an inch thick.

For the celery: You will need two to three stems of celery, depending on the stalk size. Slice the stalks to fill one cup.

For the carrots:  For this recipe’s final presentation I prepared the carrots in a rustic turned cut.  The offcut pieces are all added to the roasting tray and the turned carrots are kept aside for later.  Optionally the carrots can also be sliced or cut into cubes. If you choose to serve carrots separately, boil them until just tender and finish them right before you are ready to serve by simmering in the cooking liquid for fifteen minutes.

For the garlic:  Peel the garlic cloves and crush with flat side of your knife.

Step 3: Preparing the Pot Roast

Pot Roast Step 3 Preparing the Pot Roast after heading

Bring the trimmed beef chuck to room temperature.  This helps to ensure an even sear while preventing a dry outer layer.  

Coat the beef chuck with olive oil and season with freshly ground black pepper and Himalayan salt.  

Pot Roast Step 3 Preparing the Pot Roast before heat a heavy

Heat a heavy bottomed frying pan without any additional oil until it starts to smoke.  Place the beef chuck into the pan with the side containing the most fat. Allow each side of the chuck to build a golden brown crust.  

Pot Roast Step 3 Preparing the Pot Roast before remove to

Remove to the roasting tray, on the grid insert.  

Step 4: Sauteing the vegetables

 

Saute the vegetables using the same pan that you have just sealed the beef chuck in.  A thin layer of fat will have rendered from the beef. This is your cooking grease.

Start with the carrots and allow them to brown slightly before adding in the onions and celery.

Pot Roast Step 4 Sauteing the vegetables after onions and celery first paragraph

Once the onions have started to turn a golden color, add the tomato paste and stir through the vegetables.

Pot Roast Step 4 Sauteing the vegetables after stir through the vegetables

Continue stirring the vegetables.  The tomato paste will start to stick to the pan lightly.  Now add the wine to the pan.

Pot Roast Step 4 Sauteing the vegetables before Add the wine

The wine will deglaze the pan and help to bring together all the flavors.  Slowly stir in two or three cups of the chicken stock.

Pot Roast Step 4 Sauteing the vegetables after deglaze the pan

Pour everything into the roasting tray along with the remainder of the stock, garlic, and herbs.  

Pot Roast step 4 sauteing the vegetables end of section

Cover the roasting tray with its lid and place in the preheated oven.  Braise for three to four hours until fork tender.

Be sure to rest the meat before slicing.

Step 5: Preparing the Crispy potatoes

Fill a pot large enough to hold all the potatoes with cold water.  Cover pot with a lid.  Place on a medium heat and bring to the boil.  Cook potatoes until tender.

Allow the potatoes to cool slightly and then remove skin.  A small serrated knife works well for this. Break the potatoes into small chunks.  

Pot Roast Step 5 Preparing the Crispy potatoesafter break into chunks

When you are almost ready to serve the Pot Roast, deep-fry the potatoes until golden.  Remove to paper towel and season generously with salt.

Step 6: Preparing the Green Beans and Pangrattato

Steam the green beans lightly.  Alternatively, you may blanch them in salted boiling water for about thirty seconds before submerging in ice water to stop the cooking process.

Pot Roast Step 6 Preparing the Green Beans and Pangrattato before for the pangrattato

For the Pangrattato, simply heat the butter in a pan.  Stir the Panko crumbs into the bubbling melted butter with the season, herbs, garlic flakes and onion flakes.  Stir constantly to toast the breadcrumbs a beautiful golden brown. It will only take a few seconds.

Pot Roast Step 6 Preparing the Green Beans and Pangrattato after and onion flakes

Serve the green beans sprinkled with Pangrattato.

Step 7: Preparing the Butternut Fritters

In a bowl combine butternut mash, flour, salt, baking powder, and egg.  Whisk until smooth and no flour is visible.  Add milk a little at a time.  You may not need all of it.  The mixture should be loose enough to spread slightly without being runny.

Step 7 Preparing the Butternut Fritters after without being runny

Heat a quarter inch of oil in a pan over medium heat.  Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot oil. Fry for two to three minutes on a side, until golden

Serve immediately or keep warm in the oven.

Step 8: Finishing the Gravy

Measure out two cups of cooking liquid.  Melt the butter in a pot large enough to take a liter of liquid.  Whisk in the flour until it forms clumps. Start to pour in the liquid a little at a time, whisking thoroughly to avoid any lumps.  

Pot Roast Step 8 Finishing the Gravy after avoid any lumps

The gravy needs to cook out.  If it’s too thick for your liking simply add in more liquid.  If too thin, you can reduce or add in Beurre Manie – an equal part mixture of butter and flour.  Add a teaspoon at a time.

Step 9:  Bringing it all together

 

After taking the meat out of the oven and resting it you may now slice.  Optionally you can also use two forks to shred the meat into large pieces.

 

Serve family style on platters.

Pot Roast vegetables completed sides

Tips:

  • If you prefer to not use fried potatoes, simply add raw cubed potatoes to the Pot Roast after two hours.
  • The Pot Roast can be prepared on top of the stove if you do not have a large enough oven.  A slow cooker will also work wonderfully.