I Cooked Something!

Since I can't manage to find time to blog (translation: I'm lazy af), I'm posting an original recipe.

I've been craving my momma's pot roast lately. It is comfort food at it's finest... It's rich without being too filling and totally unpretentious. I asked her to send me her recipe, but she never wrote it down! So, after doing a little research and some grocery shopping, I turned my husband into a pot roast tester. The results were better than I thought they would be, so I'm sharing "my" recipe here--just in case I forget next time. This is off the dome and I am NOT a professional recipe writer, so there's a possibility that this could go haywire...

Sounds like fun, right? Here--make some delicious friggin' pot roast:

• 2 TBSP olive oil, more if needed
  
• Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
  
• 3-5 lb. chuck roast (if wrapped with string, do not cut!)
  
• 2 onions/3 lbs. of roast, ends trimmed, cut in half
  
• 2 carrots/lb. of roast, peeled and cut into large, bite-sized pieces
  
• 1 potato/lb. of roast, peeled and cut into large, bite-sized pieces
  
• 1.5 lbs of whole white mushrooms, cleaned and divided
  
• 1 TBSP tomato paste
  
• 1 garlic clove/lb. of roast, peeled and smashed
  
• 1 cup of red wine/3 lbs. of roast
  
• 1.5 cups of beef stock/3 lbs. of roast
  
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
  
• 2 sprigs of thyme
  
• 2 bay leaves
  
• Cornstarch slurry for gravy (if needed--¼ cup water, 2 TBSP cornstarch, whisked together)
  

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
   
2. Heat olive oil in Dutch oven until shimmering.
   
3. Generously coat all sides of roast with Kosher salt and ground black pepper.
   
4. Halve half of the mushrooms.
   
5. Sear chuck roast on all sides and set aside.
   
6. Sear all onions on cut sides until dark brown. Remove from pan.
   
7. Sear half of whole mushrooms until golden. Remove from pan.
   
8. Repeat with rest of vegetables and set aside. Add smashed garlic and tomato paste to pan and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
   
9. Deglaze pan with red wine, scraping browned bits from bottom of pan.
   
10. Place roast into pan with seared onions and pour in beef stock (should reach halfway up the side of the meat). Heat to a low boil.
    
11. Place rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves into cheesecloth or teabag and submerge into liquid.
    
12. Turn oven down to 300 degrees.
    
13. Cover roast and cook in the oven for 1-2 hours. Internal temperature of meat should be around 200 degrees.
    
14. Add seared vegetables to the pan, cover and return to oven. Cook for 30 minutes and check. If meat is tender and easily shredded, remove from oven.
    
15. Move vegetables to a serving dish.
    
16. Set meat aside to rest while you make the gravy.
    
17. Heat the gravy to a low boil and slowly whisk in the slurry. Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until thick. Season to taste with salt if needed.
    
18. Remove string (if applicable), shred rested meat and serve.