The Most Amazing, Magnificent Smothered Pot Roast Recipe You Will Ever Find!

[cjfallon]

Sure, there are a lot of ingredients, but it’s WORTH IT! This is a fail-safe recipe for a 2-pound chuck roast, that will easily feed four. Please email me at [e-mail] and let me know what you think!

Ingredients

• One two-pound chuck roast
• Kosher salt and cracked black pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil, plus more if needed
• 2 carrots, chopped into 1-inch chunks, on the diagonal
• 2 celery stocks, chopped into 1-inch chunks, on the diagonal
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped into 1-inch chunks
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, stemmed, chopped fine
• 4-5 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped fine
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped fine
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste (in the tube)
• 1 tablespoon anchovy paste (in the tube, DON’T OMIT!)
• 1 bottle dry red wine (reduced on stovetop to 2 cups)
• ¼ cup good, aged Balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 cups beef broth
•3 tablespoons of flour, mixed with water to form a thin, smooth paste
• 1 teaspoon Gravy Master
• Mashed potatoes, your recipe

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.

Reduce red wine: Simmer on stovetop down to approximately 2 cups. Set aside.

Using paper towels, pat the roast dry to help get a great crust on the meat. Sprinkle the roast generously with salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons oil and heat until glossy. Add the roast and brown on both sides. Remove and transfer to a large plate.

Add more oil to the pot if needed, along with the carrots, celery and onions. Season with salt and pepper. Add the rosemary, thyme, and bay leaf and cook until the vegetables 7 minutes. Add the garlic and continue cooking for another 1 minute. Add 1 cup of the reduced wine and simmer 8 minutes, scraping up the seared bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the beef broth, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, anchovy paste, cumin, red pepper flakes, and paprika. Stir while simmering to combine. Return the roast to the pot. Bring the liquid to a simmer and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Place the pot in the oven in the center. Cook roast for 1 hour, and then turn it over. Cook another hour.

Remove from the oven and transfer the roast to a large plate. Tent with foil and let the roast rest. Place the Dutch oven back on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add 1/4 cup more of the reduced red wine to the liquid and reduce by half at a simmer, about 10 minutes. Add Gravy Master and stir for 1 minute. Add the flour/water mix slowly while stirring. Turn off heat.

Shred roast with 2 forks, removing any very fatty pieces. Add roast back into pot and stir to combine,

Serve over mashed potatoes.

[HillJ]

cjfallon, thank you for posting your special version of pot roast. We serve ours over saute spinach or kale lately but the leftovers make for delicious sandwiches.

[cjfallon]

You're welcome! Over spinach or kale sounds yummy!

[escondido123]

I would like to see both the flour and Gravy Master removed from this recipe. If the flavor is that good, you don't need the GM, especially if you spent a little more time browning the vegs and onions. And with the amount of vegetables, I think a little more reduction would give you a nice sauce that didn't require that "gravy" thickening as long as you left out the last red wine reduction.

[sandylc]

I agree, escondido123. Actually, I'm not even sure what Gravy Master is, but it sounds wrong.

[cjfallon]

Gravy Master is an all-natural liquid seasoning used in sauces or as a browning agent for meat. The product contains no meat; instead, the ingredients include sugar, vinegar and spices to create a dark, meat-infused flavor. Gravy Master adds flavors to gravies, soups, stews and other dark sauces used over meat.

I use it a lot, and it simply deepens the flavor layers of whatever you use it with.

[escondido123]

I find GM to add an artificial flavor to things and with all the flavors in this dish I don't think it is necessary. (GravyMaster® Ingredients & Nutritional Information
Ingredients: caramelized sugar, caramel color, water, hydrolyzed soy and corn protein, apple cider vinegar, salt and spices (onion, celery, parsley and garlic). CONTAINS NO MEAT.) GM is generally used by not-very-good cooks to add color to their otherwise pale gravies and I think you are better than that.

[cjfallon]

Feel free to leave it out. I'm just an every day cook who likes to experiment, and all I know is the recipe I created today turned out terrific, so I wanted to share it... that's all.

[sunshine842]

Gravymaster has MSG, though -- which some folks prefer to avoid.

But the rest of the recipe sounds pretty awesome -- and I'm well known for being able to produce just about anything EXCEPT a decent pot roast....so this goes into the "to try" pile.

[cjfallon]

Very true, sunshine842. I'm sure it would be perfectly fine to leave it out. I have struggled with making a flavorful, tender pot roast for years. I hope you will try it and I hope you enjoy it! Take care.

[sandylc]

The recipe looks great otherwise!

[cjfallon]

Thanks!

[Hank Hanover]

Ahh... Kitchen Bouquet .... I use it sometimes to darken a gravy. A touch goes a long way.

cjfallon ... the flour slurry thickener sounds appropriate to me but you could also thicken it by pureeing some of the veggies and or reducing like these other people suggest.

Don't get too discouraged by people picking your recipe apart. It is a chowhounders nature to pick apart and analyze a recipe especially if it gets posted in a forum. Nobody is trying to pick on you.

[Hank Hanover]

Pulling it is interesting. It has too much red wine for my taste but it certainly sounds good.

[cjfallon]

It's interesting... when you reduce the wine down from the bottle to just 2 cups (about 20-25 minutes), all of the acidity and most of the alcohol cooks out and it becomes this rich, smooth, sweet liquid. And you only use a total of 1 1/4 cups of the reduced wine in the recipe...

But I think you could probably cut back on the wine and add more beef stock if you want. Don't know for sure, though.

[raygunclan]

i will definitely try this based on the anchovy paste alone! :) thanks for the recipe!

[cjfallon]

You are so welcome! When you add the flour/water paste, stir for one minute before turning off the heat. Also, make sure you use a Dutch Oven, and make sure the chuck roast is 2 POUNDS, no larger or smaller. Good luck! Let me know!

[1POINT21GW]

Did you develop this recipe?

[cjfallon]

Yes. I took a basic pot roast recipe and then just added things like the cumin, paprika, red pepper flakes, tomato and anchovy paste, balsamic vinegar, and Gravy Master as an experiment. Made it today and OMG! It was VERY rich, deeply flavorful, with just a little kick, and absolutely MELTED in my mouth!

[1POINT21GW]

Then I will definitely make this. I really like making recipes others have poured their heart, time, and energy into developing.

[cjfallon]

Please let me know if you like it. Spoon it over mash potatoes, chow down, and prepare for a comfort food coma!!!! LOL