Meat and Potatas!

I am not much of a meat-eater. I usually keep meat consumption to once or twice a month. And the more often I eat meat, the more convinced I am that I would be okay never eating meat. It is not something I ever buy or prepare at home unless its for a special occasion. It's just not my thing!

Jerry usually indulges my faux-vegetarianism and will even dabble in it himself every now and again. Since Whatever They are Calling It Now Sandy hit last week, Jerry has been working 12 hour shifts every day, coming home to a cold and dark apartment until Saturday afternoon when our power came back on.

When he said he wanted pot roast for dinner, how could I refuse? Even though meat isn't my thing, he definitely deserved a home cook meal of his choosing.

Since I don't usually cook meat, this meal was a bit of an adventure...in that I almost messed it up in 12 different ways! I didn't have some of the ingredients I wanted to use! I forgot ingredients altogether! Miraculously, it came out pretty good. Jerry (and our fat, naughty kitties who tried to break into the garbage to eat the scraps) seemed to enjoy it.

Pot Roast with Root Veggies

by Bonnie Graham

Cook Time: 2 1/2 to 3 hours

Keywords: bake entree carrots parsnips potato meat

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Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 3-pound chuck roast, trimmed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large coarsely chopped onion
• 1 cup dry red wine (optional - add 1 c beef broth instead)
• 4 thyme sprigs
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 1/3 c less-sodium beef broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 c baby large carrots
• 2 large parsnips, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 large red-skinned potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350º.

2. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.Salt and pepper roast and add to the heated pan.

3. Cook 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove roast from pan.

4. Add onion to pan; sauté until tender.

5. Return browned roast to pan. Add the red wine, thyme sprigs, chopped garlic, beef broth, and bay leaf to pan; bring to a simmer.

6. Cover pan and bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until the roast is almost tender.

7. Add carrots, parsnips, and potatoes to pan. Cover and bake an additional 1 hour or until vegetables are tender.

8. Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaf from pan; discard. Remove veggies and roast from the pan leaving the juices.

9. Skim excess fat off of the juices if desired. Return the pan to the stovetop over medium-high heat.

10. Whisk in 2 tsp of corn starch to pan with juice. Continue to whisk until juices thicken slightly to make a gravy. Pour over meat and veggies.

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