Jacques Pepin’s Pot Roast

Suzanne recently made a pot roast that sounded delicious, but instead of going with her recipe, I cracked open a favorite cookbook, Julia and Jacques – Cooking at Home. This was delicious, and makes a LOT. I froze enough for at least 2 more meals, and we still had plenty in the fridge for leftovers. The internet tells me that I should not have frozen the veggies, they will lose some of their texture, but I couldn’t be bothered to figure out the math on that one. This is a delicious recipe perfect for a rainy day.

Pot Roast

Ingredients

• One 5-lb piece of beef bottom round, from the “flat”, trimmed of all fat
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt (or 1 tsp tablespoon salt), plus more if needed
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more if needed
• 2 to 3 Tbsp canola or other vegetable oil
• 2 cups chopped onion, 1-inch pieces (about 8 ounces)
• 1 large tomato, cored and chopped into 1-inch pieces (I used a can of fire roasted tomatoes)
• 2 imported bay leaves (I have no idea whether mine were imported)
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
• 1 1/2 cups white wine, plus more if needed
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 pounds large white turnips, peeled, trimmed, and sliced into large wedges (I used potatoes, not a big fan of turnips)
• 1 lb small white onions, blanched and peeled (I used a bag of frozen pearl onions)
• 1 lb baby carrots
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups green peas, fresh or frozen
• Potato starch for thickening
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 300 F.

Season the roast on all sides with 1 to 1 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. Set your Dutch oven over hight heat with 2 or 3 tablespoons of oil, just enough to film at the bottom.

When the oil is hot, brown the roast and sear on all sides, about 15 minutes in all. If there is excess oil in the bottom of the pan, carefully remove and discard. Arrange the onion, tomatoes, bay leaves, and thyme around the meat, add wine and water. Bring to a gentle boil, cover the pan, and roast in oven for 3 to 4 hours, until the meat is tender.

Remove the pot from the oven, set the meat aside, and strain the vegetables from the braising liquid, reserving the liquid (I have dumped this down the sink before, which almost made me cry). Press the vegetables in the strainer to get as much liquid as possible, then discard the cooked vegetables.

Return the roast and strained liquid to the pot. Arrange the turnips/potatoes, pearl onions, and baby carrots around the meat and season with 1/2 tsp of salt. Bring the liquid to a boil, then cover the pan and put it back in the oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the roast is fork tender and the vegetables are soft but holding their shape.

Set the pot on the stovetop over low heat. Add the peas, cover, and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the roast and vegetables to a serving platter. You can either spoon the liquid over the roast and veggies like I did, or you can thicken it if you prefer. To do this, stir together a tbsp of potato starch with a tbsp of white wine in a small dish. Stir the dissolved starch, a bit at a time, into the hot liquid. Stir in only as much as needed to reach your desired consistency.

Add liquid to serving platter, sprinkle with parsley, and serve.