CLASSIC POT ROAST

By LaLaCooks

Our recommended beef broth is Rachael Ray Stock-in-a-Box Beef Flavored Stock. Chilling the whole cooked pot roast overnight improves its flavor and makes it moister and easier to slice; for instructions, see Make-Ahead Pot Roast.STEP-BY-STEP
Keys to a Flavorful Pot Roast

1. SALT ROAST
Sprinkling the roast halves with salt and resting them for 1 hour improves meaty flavor.


2. ADD (A LITTLE) LIQUID
Adding just 1 1/2 cups of liquid to the pot leads to a more intensely flavored gravy.


3. SEAL POT
Sealing the pot with foil before covering locks in valuable juices and ensures that the roast has enough liquid for braising.


4. BULK UP GRAVY
Pureeing the onions, carrots, and celery cooked with the roast and combining them with the gravy adds body and flavor.

RECIPE TESTING
Low-Temperature Browning
When meat is seared at very high temperatures, the Maillard reaction rapidly kicks in, rendering the exterior deeply browned and flavorful. But can browning take place at lower temperatures in the moist, closed environment of a braise, where the temperature can never rise above the boiling point of water, 212 degrees?

THE EXPERIMENT
We cooked two pot roasts: one that we seared before adding liquid to the pot, and the other we placed directly in the pot without searing.

THE RESULTS
The dry part of the two roasts that sat above the liquid had a similar level of browning, and the unseared roast tasted nearly as good as the seared one.

THE EXPLANATION
In the searing heat of a 500-degree pan, the Maillard reaction quickly produces countless new flavor compounds that improve taste. But given enough time, browning can also occur at temperatures as low as 160 degrees. Our pot roast cooks for a good 3½ hours, ample time for lots of new flavor compounds to be created on the dry top part of the meat. Though these compounds won’t be as plentiful or richly flavorful as when browning occurs at higher temperatures, we felt that we could skip the sear.

Published November 1, 2010.

These days, pot roasts come in all styles and flavors. But when we went looking for truly beefy taste, a simple 19th-century recipe proved the best guide.

The Problem
There is no shortage of ways to cook a pot roast—and jazzed-up iterations have their place—but the simple approach (throwing meat into a pot with liquid, a few basic seasonings, carrots and onions; cover and place in a low oven; then walk away until dinner) deserved attention.

The Goal
Our goal was to make this no-frills recipe the best it could be: a meltingly tender, sliceable roast sauced in a full-bodied gravy. We wanted it to be good enough for Sunday supper, of course, but also ready for prime time on Saturday night.

The Solution
We opted for a chuck eye. This well-marbled roast is full of collagen and particularly suited to braising, with a long, tapered shape that slices easily.

We began by doing something about the pesky globs of interior fat that stubbornly refused to render as the beef cooked. We opened the roast along its natural seam and trimmed away the excess fat, then left the two lobes as separate roasts instead of tying them back together. The benefits were twofold: Using these smaller roasts shaved about an hour off the cooking time, and all that exposed surface area meant that the salt we applied to it before cooking would penetrate even further.

To beef up the gravy, we used a combination of water, beef broth, and red wine for the braising liquid. We also added a bit of glutamate-rich tomato paste, which enhances meaty flavor. A few cloves of garlic, some herbs, and the standard mirepoix trio of onions, carrots, and celery, sautéed in butter for extra richness, were also in order.

In the interest of streamlining, we determined that the initial sear called for in most pot roast recipes wasn’t necessary. We found that the “dry” part of the meat that stays above the braising liquid eventually browns, even without searing.

By the time we pulled the roast out of the pot, the vegetables had broken down and started to thicken the gravy. To eke out every bit of their flavor, we tossed them into the blender with the defatted cooking liquid and extra beef broth (to thin the consistency). Just before serving, we stirred in a spoonful of balsamic vinegar and a bit more wine for brightness. The resulting gravy was exceptionally rich and full-bodied.


list of recipes
Classic Pot Roast
Classic Pot Roast with Mushroom and Prune Gravy
Classic Pot Roast with Root Vegetables
Make-Ahead Classic Pot Roast

Ingredients

• 1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) boneless beef chuck-eye roast , pulled into two pieces at natural seam and trimmed of large knobs of fat
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 medium onions , halved and sliced thin (about 2 cups)
• 1 large carrot , chopped medium (about 1 cup)
• 1 celery rib , chopped medium (about 3/4 cup)
• 2 medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
• 1 cup beef broth , plus 1 to 2 cups for sauce (see note)
• 1/2 cup dry red wine , plus 1/4 cup for sauce
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig plus 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• Ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Preparation

Step 1

1. Sprinkle pieces of meat with 1 tablespoon salt (1 teaspoons if using table salt), place on wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet, and let stand at room temperature 1 hour.

2. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Heat butter in heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium heat. When foaming subsides, add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add carrot and celery; continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes longer. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in 1 cup broth, cup wine, tomato paste, bay leaf, and thyme sprig; bring to simmer.

3. Pat beef dry with paper towels and season generously with pepper. Using 3 pieces of kitchen twine, tie each piece of meat into loaf shape for even cooking.

4. Nestle meat on top of vegetables. Cover pot tightly with large piece of foil and cover with lid; transfer pot to oven. Cook beef until fully tender and sharp knife easily slips in and out of meat, 3 to 4 hours, turning halfway through cooking.

5. Transfer roasts to cutting board and tent loosely with foil. Strain liquid through mesh strainer into 4-cup liquid measuring cup. Discard bay leaf and thyme sprig. Transfer vegetables to blender jar. Allow liquid to settle 5 minutes, then skim any fat off surface. Add beef broth as necessary to bring liquid amount to 3 cups. Place liquid in blender with vegetables and blend until smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer sauce to medium saucepan and bring to simmer over medium heat.

6. While sauce heats, remove twine from roast and slice against grain into -inch-thick slices. Transfer meat to large serving platter. Stir chopped thyme, remaining cup wine, and vinegar into sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon half of sauce over meat; pass remaining sauce separately.