Chuck Roast & Poor Boy Sandwiches

By mariannefeldman

Slow-Roasted Chuck Roast
From Cook's Country | October/November 2013
In My Favorites
To cook once and eat twice, we start with a hefty chuck roast. We tie half of it up into a roast and break the other half down into chunks. After seasoning all the meat with our all-purpose mixture of salt, pepper, onion, and garlic and browning it in stages on the stovetop, we roast it in the oven, giving the cubed meat a head start to achieve fall-apart tenderness. We cook the tied roast to medium and then slice it and serve it with creamy horseradish sauce. Then we mash the cubed meat into tender shreds and serve it with gravy for a messy, delicious, New Orleans–style po’ boy sandwich the next night. 4 TO 6

Refrigerate the meat with the seasoning rub for at least 6 hours before cooking.

Ingredients

• BEEF
• 1 (5- to 6-pound) center-cut boneless beef chuck-eye roast
• 5 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 2 teaspoons granulated garlic
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• HORSERADISH SAUCE
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup prepared horseradish, drained
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preparation

Step 1

1. FOR THE BEEF: Pat roast dry with paper towels. Separate roast into 2 pieces along natural seam and trim fat to ¼-inch thickness. Tie kitchen twine around larger roast at 1-inch intervals. Cut smaller roast into 1-inch cubes. Combine salt, pepper, onion powder, and granulated garlic in bowl. Rub surface of tied roast evenly with half of spice mixture and wrap in plastic wrap. Transfer beef cubes to 1-gallon zipperlock bag; add remaining spice mixture to bag, seal, and toss to coat beef cubes. Refrigerate tied roast and beef cubes for at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours.

2. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown tied roast on all sides, 10 to 12 minutes; transfer to plate.

3. Return now-empty skillet to medium-high heat, add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, and heat until just smoking. Add cubed beef and brown on all sides, 10 to 12 minutes. Sprinkle flour over meat and cook, stirring constantly, until beef is evenly coated, about 1 minute. Add wine and cook until pan is nearly dry, about 1 minute. Add beef and chicken broths and bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits. Cover, transfer to oven, and cook for 1 hour.

4. FOR THE HORSERADISH SAUCE: Whisk all ingredients together in bowl until smooth. (Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)

5. Uncover skillet and place browned roast on top of cubed meat. Return skillet to oven and continue to cook, uncovered, until cubed meat is forktender and roast registers 150 degrees, about 1 hour longer. Transfer roast to carving board, tent loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest for 20 minutes. Using potato masher, mash cubed meat until shredded into rough ½-inch pieces. Transfer shredded meat and gravy to bowl and let cool completely. Cover and refrigerate until ready to make Roast Beef Po’ Boys, up to 2 days. Remove twine from roast and slice thin. Serve roast with horseradish sauce.

TEST KITCHEN TECHNIQUE: COOK TWO MEALS AT ONCE

Separate a large chuck roast into two smaller pieces.


FOR THE ROAST: Tie and season one of the pieces for a traditional roast.


FOR THE PO' BOY: Cut the other piece into one-inch cubes and toss with seasoning.


Refrigerate all the meat for at least 6 hours, then brown the roast in a skillet and set it aside on a plate. Next, brown the cubed meat in the skillet. Sprinkle the cubes with flour, stir in the wine, then the broth. Then cover the skillet and braise the cubed meat in the oven for an hour while the browned roast sits.


Stack the seared roast on the braised cubes. Cook together, uncovered, until all the meat is done.