Pot Roast of Beef Braised in Red Wine
Victor’s wine note on this recipe advises that “an ideal rendition of it would call for Barolo in the pot as well as Barolo in your glass.” And so, because we had been holding onto a single bottle of 2001 Pio Cesare long enough, I decided to take his advice.
I picked a beautiful piece of chuck roast at Whole Foods because I knew it would fit perfectly into my grandmothers 80 year old cast iron dutch oven.
After searing the beef in a hot skillet, I added it to the dutch oven where the onion, carrot, & celery waited.
I’ve always cooked with good wine, but it appears I’ve had an upper limit I wasn’t aware of. So it was both disconcerting and liberating to pour that beautiful Barolo into the skillet for deglazing.
Once deglazed, I dumped the bubbling wine into the pot with the meat & vegetables. Then added broth, tomatoes, and spices.
After bringing the contents to a boil, I moved the pot to the oven for the three hours of magic that would produce a meltingly delicious hunk of meat. We enjoyed it with Swiss Chard Stalks Gratinéed with Parmesean Cheese (report will post on January 25th) and Finocchio Salad (report date will be March 15th).
And, following instructions exactly, we drank the rest of that Barolo.
On a cold evening in Boston this would be ideal!!!! I loved reading your post….I love even more that you have your grandmother’s 80 year old cast iron dutch oven! My mom has a dutch oven that I hope to have in my kitchen one day….not anytime soon of course!!! Brava!!
Deborah responds:
Thanks, Mindy. You’re too sweet. Yes, the dutch oven is cherished. My mother (who will be 90 in a few days) lives in a log cabin. In the kitchen she has a huge cast iron Buck stove with several more pieces of my grandmother’s collection. When my Mom finally leaves the cabin — feet first, she says. :grin:, my sister-in-law will inherit the Buck stove for her beautiful house in the woods.
Pot roast in barolo – it just sounds sinful! And tastes wonderful, I am sure.
Deborah and Mindy, such sweet and wonderful stories. You are both blessed and interesting how food and cooking are common threads…
Deborah, I might have been too greedy to pour some of that Barolo into the pot. Brava to you and thank you for your wonderful post!
When I get to meet you, Deborah, I’d like to know more about your mother, and to see photos. Chuck roast is a marvelous cut of meat. I just bought some today that I am going to cut into cubes for a stew into which I am going to pour one of Victor’s good bottles. I also like to use a piece of chuck for bollito, mixed boiled meats. Isn’t that coming up some time?
Deborah responds: Marcella, I think you and my mother would get along famously. On the eve of her 90th birthday, she remains one feisty lady.
Beef Stew with Red Wine and Vegetables is coming up on Saturday. So it will be either Jerry or Palma. Bollito Misto is the next Thursday, so that will be Cindy. Lucky girl!
It’s Cindy, and I’m adding a comment here. Yes, I’m making Bollito Misto this weekend. I have too much to do this weekend to have guests come over, so it should be interesting (recipe serves 18). I have my beef chuck, veal(I have to use a different cut than called for), beef tongue, chicken, and even a cotechino sausage ready and waiting. I might have to figure out how to cut this recipe in half-I don’t want to leave out the tongue and sausage as you suggested Marcella. It’s a good thing this makes for good leftovers, because I think we’re going to be eating it morning, noon, and night!
My dear Cindy, today I cooked a piece of chuck roast, some marrow bones, and a couple of short ribs using the same technique of the bollito misto. It made just enough lunch for Victor and me, which I served with cren, homemade horseradish. And I have a good quantity of broth to freeze in ice cube trays, ready for a risotto or two.
Marcella: That sounds wonderful. I think I’ll have to try the homemade horseradish, as that sounds great with the beef. I’m cooking the Bollito Misto this Saturday, and the post will be up next Thursday, so I’m hoping for good results. Now I’ve got to find room in my freezers (we have 2) for all of the broth I’ll have left over. Our freezers are so full of fish, and I made some shrimp stock one day and froze a lot of it for risottos. Now I just need to get busy using some of it…. Cindy