Shun knives
As my regular readers know (Hi, mom!), in addition to putting holes in things from a distance, my second hobby is cooking. I was out shopping in the mall last weekend, and they had this knife on sale, way below normal pricing. It’s a simple 6″ chef’s knife, but it is easily the sharpest knife that I have ever used. I can cut perfect matchstick julienned vegetables.
It’s still pricey, but I’m sold on the quality of Shun.
Pot Roast
This is one of my favorite dishes. It is simple to prepare, simply delicious when done, and gives the illusion that you spent the whole day in the kitchen.
Although the dish is called pot roast, we don’t do any roasting. What we are going to do is called braising. The trick here is a long, slow cooking time in a moist environment. We use it to break down tough cuts of meat that would be otherwise inedible, in this case chuck steak. The low heat and moisture help break down the connective tissue in the meat. As an aside, if you are interested in learning the science behind what you are doing, CookWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Cooking and On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen are great places to start.
While I am plugging books, this dish is adapted from American Home Cooking, which is a very interesting book. It contains traditional American recipes and gives the history of each.
One note on ingredients. I debated back an forth on giving precise measurements versus being vague. In the end, I decided that readers would like the specificity. But understand, the kind of cooking we are doing here is not precise. There is no harm being a little over or a little under on the ingredients. If the recipe calls for thyme, and you like thyme, then by all means put in more thyme! Note that this is not true in baking. That is pretty precise. But don’t spend a lot of time on precision in these dishes. If something is important, I’ll let you know.
Ingredients:
- Chuck roast, 3-4 lbs.
- 3 tablespoons All-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cube of lard (Yes, I said lard. This is a traditional American recipe. Besides, it adds to the flavor. You can substitute vegetable oil, but I reserve the right to make fun of you.)
- 1 cup beef stock
- 1 teaspoon spicy brown mustard
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 large onions, peeled and cut onto quarters
- 8 red waxy potatoes, peeled (Feel free to substitute, but you want waxy potatoes. Russets and other baking potatoes will break apart during cooking, making a mess.
- 4 carrots, halved. Peel if you like. I usually don’t.
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon flour
Hardware:
- Dutch oven. I use cast iron, but any kind will do.
- Whisk
- Small sauce pan
- 1 gallon ziplock bag
- Gravy separator (optional, but recommended)
Preheat your oven to 300.
The first step is to get the flour, salt, and pepper on the meat. You can sprinkle on by hand, but here is my no-mess method. Open ziplock bag. Drop in flour, salt, pepper. Close ziplock bag. Shake to mix. Re-open ziplock bag. Insert meat. Zip shut. Hand to daughter to shake, or alternatively do it yourself. Ensure good coating around on the meat.
Next heat the lard in your dutch oven. You want a nice, hot pan. We are going to sear the chuck. Contrary to popular belief, searing doesn’t “seal in the juices.” What searing does is quickly brown the outside of the meat. This gives us a yummy flavor. The lard should be hot enough that you get a nice sizzle when the meat is placed in the pan, but not so hot that it is smoking. Brown the roast on all sides…we want a nice brown color all around.
While the roast is browning, place the stock, mustard and thyme in a measuring cup and give it a good whisking. We want a nice homogeneous mixture. When done browning, pour the mixture over the roast, and cover tightly. Place in the oven. Cook for 1 hour. After one hour, remove from the oven, add the onions, potatoes, and carrots, and cook for at least 2 1/2 hours more. Your roast is done when a) the delicious smell of the roast is filling the house and b) the veggies and meat are very tender. The meat should be practically falling apart. When in doubt, give it a little more time.
Remove the meat and veggies to serving dishes and cover with foil. Now we are going to convert all of that liquid goodness in the bottom of the pan into a sauce. First step is to strain the drippings. If you don’t mind chunks, feel free to skip this step. Next, I like to pour off the excess fat. A gravy separator is invaluable here. If you don’t have one, then pour the whole works into a tall glass. The fat will settle on the top and can be skimmed off. Or, just whisk it into your sauce, if you don’t kind the fat!
Melt the tablespoon of butter and stir into the tablespoon of flour. You should have a thick paste. What you are doing is using the flour to thicken the drippings. If you just dumped flour into the drippings, it would clump up. By making the flour-butter slurry (called a roux in sauce making) you keep the four molecules from clumping before they can thicken the sauce. Pour the drippings into the saucepan, and add the flour-butter paste. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes or so. Serve along side your meat and veggies.
I also like to make up a batch of hearty pasta, linguini or fettuccine or the like, and serve the meat and veggies on top. The pasta soaks up the drippings and the sauce and is just delicious.
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Do your part!
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