How to Make Classic Pot Roast

Sometimes the best things in life are free. This time it was a free cooking magazine I recieved in the mail. Cuisine at Home magazine. I was very impressed by the recipes in this free magazine and several of them caught my eye. The first one I wanted to try was the Classic Pot Roast recipe. I recieved a new slow-cooker for the holidays and was dying to try it out. I’ve only made a few pot roasts over the years and haven’t been impressed with them, mostly because they only cook for a few hours in the oven. I’ve found out that to have a truly tender pot roast, it should be slow-cooked all day. So on Sunday morning, I got busy cooking!

First, chop up the vegetables: carrots, celery, onions, garlic, red potatoes. Just chop into big pieces and prepare enough for how much you think your family will eat.

Get the gravy ingredients ready: tomato paste, white wine, low sodium beef broth and Worcestershire sauce.

Heat 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil in a large skillet and sear a 3 – 4 lb. chuck roast (trimmed of excess fat and liberally salt and peppered) on both sides. This adds a nice crust and a complexity to the flavor. Then place the roast in the slow cooker.

Add 1/4 cup flour to the oil and stir.

Add 2 Tbsp. tomato paste.

Deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup dry white wine. Then whisk 12 oz. low sodium beef broth and 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce. Pour this gravy over the roast in the slow cooker.

Place the vegetables and a few sprigs of thyme and a couple of bay leaves in the slow-cooker on top of the roast and gravy. Take an artsy-fartsy photo of the veggies and herbs if you feel so inclined.

Cover the slow cooker, set to low, then let it cook all day (8 – 9 hours). Relax or bake some Crusty French Rolls to go with your pot roast.

Then you have a classic Sunday pot roast dinner. Enjoy!