Saturday, August 2, 2008

Red Wine Pot Roast with Porcini Mushrooms

Wonderful pot roast recipe from Bon Appetit, which takes some time to cook. But because of the cooking time the meat comes out wonderfully soft, and almost shreds into pieces.

There aren't much you would change about this recipe, but there are some additions that I like

During the last 1,5 hours of cooking, add carrots or baby carrots. You can even add potatoes. It makes a complete meal.

The mushrooms almost disappear in the sauce because of the cooking time, so if you want to be able to see mushrooms, add half in the beginning and the rest the last half hour.

I also like adding pearl onions during the last hour. I like the way they look in the dish, and some more onion never hurts with this recipe:)

This is a great company dish. One of the reasons is that you can prepare it in advance. And the smell of this dish is divine. But if you are cooking for 2, just use less beef, but keep the sauce amount about the same. The cooking time also stays the same.

I like using thyme instead of marjoram. You can also go for herbs de provence. It gives great depth to the sauce. If you don't have fresh marjoram, dried also works.

The wine is important, because it really comes through, so choose it carefully. And you don't really need to boil the wine or the broth as they do boil down in the oven with all that cooking time.

I skip the celery, because I don't like celery, and I don't miss it in the recipe. So if you don't like it also, just skip it:)

RED-WINE POT ROAST WITH PORCINI MUSHROOMS

Ingredients:
1 cup low-salt chicken broth or beef broth
1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1 4-pound boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 celery stalks with some leaves, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram plus sprigs for garnish
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, drained
1 cup dry red wine

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300°F. Bring broth to simmer in saucepan. Remove from heat; add mushrooms, cover, and let stand until soft, about 15 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer mushrooms to cutting board. Chop coarsely. Reserve mushrooms and broth separately.

Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Heat oil in heavy large ovenproof pot over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook until brown on all sides, about 15 minutes total. Transfer beef to large plate. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon drippings from pot.

Place pot over medium heat. Add onion and celery. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté until beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Add garlic, chopped marjoram, and reserved porcini mushrooms; sauté 1 minute.

Using hands, crush tomatoes, 1 at a time, into pot. Cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently and scraping up browned bits from bottom of pot. Add wine; boil 5 minutes. Add reserved mushroom broth, leaving any sediment behind. Boil 5 minutes.

Return beef and any accumulated juices to pot. Cover; transfer to oven. Cook 1 1/2 hours. Turn beef and continue cooking until tender, about 1 1/2 hours longer. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cool. Cover and keep refrigerated.)

Transfer beef to cutting board; tent with foil. Spoon fat from surface of juices in pot. Bring juices to boil; cook until liquid is reduced to 4 cups, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Cut beef into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Transfer to platter. Spoon juices over, garnish with marjoram sprigs, and serve.

Makes 6 servings.

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