Lee's Kitchen: Chuck roast, veggies can vary in this creole recipe
Finally, inflation has really got to me at the supermarket. I so wanted to make a pot roast and saw a lovely fat chuck roast. Before I put it into my cart, I saw the price: $31. I looked again. Yup, $31 for a piece of meat that requires 3 to 4 hours of cooking before it has the perfect chew. I left that market with chicken. The next day I tried another market. That piece was $23, still expensive, but I bought it and made the recipe below. I shared enough with my next-door neighbors, and the next morning Sue told me she saw the circular at McQuade’s for $3.99 a pound. Quick like a bunny, I went to McQuade’s and bought three and put them in my freezer.
Instead of my regular recipe, shared with friend Ralph Turri some years ago, I found this recipe in a new Southern Living. My friend Meredith, a Texas transplant, shares the magazines with me. In return, I give her my New York Times Sunday Magazine.
This recipe has exact amounts. The bacon doesn’t have to be hickory-smoke, the chuck can be smaller or larger, the veggies can vary. But I am in love with Better than Bouillon stock and now they are available on the shelves of most big supermarkets.
Creole Daube
From Southern Living, January 2022, page 96
Yield: serves 6 to 8
3 thick-cut hickory-smoke bacon slices, coarsely chopped
1 3 1/2 pound boneless chuck roast, trimmed
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 small yellow onions, chopped (about 2 1/4 cups)
1 small green bell pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 large celery stalk, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
3 tablespoons tomato paste (from 1 6-oumce can)
2 1/2 tablespoons chopped garlic from 8 garlic cloves)
1 cup dry red wine
2 cups beef stock (I use Better than Bouillon — 1 teaspoon for each cup water)
5 fresh thyme sprigs
3 bay leaves
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
5 small carrots, sliced on an angle into 2-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
2 medium turnips, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
4 tablespoons of flour stirred into 2 to 3 cups cold water
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cook bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until brown and fat rendered, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate and reserve dripping to a skillet.
Sprinkle roast with salt and pepper. Increase heat to medium-heat. Add roast to Dutch oven and sear. Until browned on 2 sides, about 12 minutes. Carefully flip halfway through. Transfer to a plate.
Reduce heat to medium. Add onions, bell pepper and celery to Dutch oven; cook, stirring often and scraping browned bits from bottom of Dutch oven, until onions soften, about 6 minutes. Add tomato paste and garlic; cook, stirring constantly, until paste turns a shade darker, about 2 minutes. Add wine and bring to a simmer oven medium. Simmer stirring occasionally, until it is slightly thickened and some of alcohol burns off, about 3 minutes. Stir in stock, thyme sprigs, bay leaves and clove. Nestle in roast and bacon along with any juices that have accumulated; bring to a simmer over medium, then remove from heat.
Cover and transfer to oven, and braise about 2 hours. Remove from oven, uncover and stir in carrots and turnips. Cover and return to oven; braise until meat and vegetables are tender, about another hour. Remove and let rest 15 minutes. Remove roast and shred into large pieces. I reduce liquid to 1/3, then add flour/cold water mixture and whisk into a gravy. Serve with fresh vegetables and roasted potatoes.
Lee White lives in Groton. She can be reached at leeawhite@aol.com.
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