Pot Roast Beef
This pot roast beef takes about maybe 10 – 15 minutes prepartion. Maybe less. There is little to do other than chop some veg, make some stock and braise the beef. Then you put it all in a pot. Let it stew in the oven on a gentle heat for 3 hours or more. You take it out, spoon the meat and veg into a dish, thicken the gravy with cornflour. Serve it with whatever takes your fancy. Mashed potato, gluten-free pasta, rice, whatever.
You will have a melt-in-the-mouth dish of deliciousness. And a lovely warm kitchen. This really is the perfect dish for a cold winter day.
My take on the pot roast is super simple. I read through a couple of great recipes before making it. These recipes are very helpful but I needed to make a couple of changes.
As I’m making this as a post-holiday winter recipe, I wanted to leave out any alcohol. And as I buy my meat in the supermarket I’m not sure where I’d find beef dripping. But pot roast is pretty forgiving. You just use what you’ve got. Don’t rush it. It will be fine.
Ingredients
- ~1kg slow roasting beef, like brisket, rump or housekeeper’s cut
- 4 onions, peeled & chopped
- 3 - 4 celery sticks, cut in three
- 2 - 3 portobellow mushrooms, quartered
- 2 carrots, chopped roughly, ~ 1” slices
- 2 parsnips, chopped roughly, ~ 1” slices
- 1 swede, diced into 1” cubes
- beef stock cube
- thyme
- 1 bayleaf
- 1 generous tbsp cornflour
- butter
- balsamic vinegar
- red wine vinegar
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt & freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Dissolve a beef stock cube in 500ml of hot water, add a splash of balsamic vinegar and a splash of red wine vinegar. Stir in a half teaspoon of tomato purée.
- Turn the oven on to 140° C. On the stove top, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a deep casserole pot. Add a pat of butter and swirl the pot around. When the butter is melted put in the beef and sear all over till it is nicely browned. Transfer the meat onto a plate. Next add in the onions, carrots, parsnips and swede, and cook until they are lightly browned. Spoon off any excess fat. Put the beef back in the pot. Add in the mushrooms, thyme and bayleaf and pour over the stock. Add a good pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover with foil - or the wrapping of stick of butter if you have one. Place the lid on the pot and transfer to the oven. Cook for 3 hours - or if the meat has instructions on the packaging cook for that length of time. It will be at least 3 hours if it’s a slow cooking cut of at least 1kg in weight.
- Lastly make the gravy. When the meat has finished cooking, transfer the pot from oven to the stove top. Remove the meat and vegetables from the pot into a serving dish. Remove the sprigs of thyme and bayleaf, and discard. Mix half a ladle of cooking juices from the pot with the cornflour. Blend it in well and then pour it back in the pot. Turn the heat on to moderate and keep stirring around for a few minutes until the juices have thickened into a gravy. Pour the gravy over the meat and vegetables in the serving dish. Serve with mashed potato and steamed green vegetables or pasta or rice.
