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.