Savory Pot Roast

This is our first attempt at pot-roast and it turned out really well. I think it's pretty important to make sure you cook it long enough (note 3.5-4 hrs so make sure you start it early!). We probably didn't turn it quite every 30 minutes, which I think was fine. Near the end, we cooked some brown rice to serve it on. I recommend this so you can soak up all that yummy sauce!

I've been meaning to comment on our lack of posts last week - we were pretty caught up in the basketball tournament. We did a lot of eating out and chicken wings that week :) Anyone else a UNC fan? Both mine and Michael's whole families (with the exception of Michael:) went there so we pretty much bleed carolina blue. Go heels!

Ingredients

• 1 boneless chuck-eye roast (about 3 1/2 pounds)
• salt and ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped medium
• 1 small carrot, chopped medium
• 1 small celery rib, chopped medium
• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup low sodium beef broth
• 1 sprig fresh thyme (I had to use ground thyme, having no sprigs.)
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 cup dry red wine

Directions

1. First you adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 300 degrees. Sprinkle the roast generously with salt and pepper.
2. Heat the oil in a large ovenproof Dutch oven over medium-high until shimmering but not smoking. Brown the roast thoroughly on all sides, reducing the heat if the fat begins to smoke, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the roast to a large plate; set aside.
3. Then reduce the heat to medium; add the onion, carrot and celery to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally until beginning to brown, 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic and sugar; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken and beef broths and thyme, scraping the pan bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits.
   
4. Return the roast and any accumulated juices on the plate to the pot; add enough water to come halfway up the sides of the roast. Cover with a lid, bring the liquid to a simmer over medium heat, and transfer the pot to the oven.
   
5. Cook, turning the roast every 30 minutes until fully tender and a meat fork or sharp knife slips easily in and out of the meat, 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
6. Transfer the roast to a carving board; tent with foil to keep warm. Allow the liquid to settle about 5 minutes then use a wide spoon to skim off the fat from the surface and discard the thyme sprig (if you used fresh thyme).
   
7. Boil over high heat until it is reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 8 minutes. Add the wine and reduce to 1 1/2 cups, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
8. Cut up the meat, pour 1/2 cup of the sauce over the meat.