Day 28: Another Sunday Dinner: Pot Roast

I've mentioned before how much I love the idea of Sunday dinners with a big family.  Here's another regular Sunday dinner meal for the Dattolos during the fall/winter: pot roast.  My recipe comes from a combination of research and my own trial and error.  This recipe is fantastic!  The combination of flavors and a nice, tender cut of meat are essential for making this a Sunday dinner keeper!

Sunday Dinner Pot Roast
3-5 lb roasting meat
5-6 carrots + 1 more (depending on size and desired meat/vegetable ratio)
3-4 large potatoes
14 oz beef broth
1/2 cup red wine
1-2 TB Worcestershire sauce
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
10 sprigs of thyme (leaves only)
5-6 sprigs of rosemary (leaves only, roughly chopped)
3 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 TB onion flakes
salt, pepper
extra virgin olive oil
3 TB butter
2 TB flour

Peel and quarter the onion and place in a slow-cooker.   Add the garlic.  Peel and roughly chop 1 carrot and add it with the onion and garlic.  Drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil, 1 TB butter, and season with salt and pepper.  Add the leaves of 5 thyme sprigs, 3 sprigs of rosemary, and about 1 tsp of the dried oregano.  Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat until it's piping hot.  Season the meat with salt and pepper.  Add oil to the skillet and sear all sides of the meat.  Once seared, add it to the slow-cooker on top of the vegetables.  Drizzle in the Worcestershire sauce, red wine, and beef broth.  Cook on high 2 hours or low 4 hours or until medium-rare.

About 45 minutes before the meat is done, start the vegetables.  Peel and chop the remaining carrots and chop the potatoes.  Put all the vegetables on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil, and add the remaining rosemary and thyme.  Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion flakes.  Bake at 400* for about 20-30 minutes.

When the meat is ready, remove it from the slow-cooker onto a cutting board to rest.  While it's resting, whisk 2 TB butter and 2 TB flour into the sauce and vegetables in the slow-cooker.  Pour all of the contents into a blender and blend until smooth and thick.  (*It helps to do this in batches to avoid a blender explosion!)  Pour back into the slow cooker.  Cut up the meat and add it to the sauce.  Remove the vegetables from the oven and add them to the meat and sauce.  Mix everything together and serve in bowls with bread.