Crusty's Pot Roast and Corn Bread

Is that a chill in the air? Let me help you warm up

My roommate in college (shout out Ders) taught me a lesson in grocery shopping that I will never forget. ALWAYS buy meats when they’re on sale, then you can freeze and save for later. I vehemently follow this ideology, to the point that I forget what meats I have on hand. It feels like I’m saving money when I am looking for things to cook, and realize I’ve got a fully stocked freezer. No need to run to the store. Thank you past Carson!

This week, it dropped below 60 degrees (American units) and I knew EXACTLY what I had to do. That’s right, folks. ITS STEW SEASON!!

I checked my handy dandy freezer, and what do you know, I had a chuck roast stored away for the winter. Man I love me.

This was an amalgamation of a few recipes that I h

ave used over the years that turned out to be the best roast I’ve ever made by a long shot. But there was something missing. How can I have a roast without something to SOP it up? Enter stage left: Corn Bread. I grew up a Jiffy cornbread guy, but have made it a few times. This is my personal take on a homemade corn bread.

I cringe every time I write one of these pre-recipe blogs. But its par for the course (I think?)

Without further ado (adeiu?), Crusty’s Pot Roast and Corn Bread.

Recipe

Pot roast

Ingredients

• 3 lb (ish) chuck roast

• 2 large carrots (3-4 if they are smaller)

• 2 red onions

• 5 cloves garlic

  • use as much as your heart desires

• 4 stalks celery

• 1 box bella mushrooms (10-15)

  • you can use any mushroom you like

• Red wine

• 4 cups beef stock

• 3 sprigs rosemary

• 3 bayleaves

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter

• 1 small can tomato paste (6 oz)

Corn Bread

• 220g all purpose flour

• 160g corn meal

• 50g sugar

• 2tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp baking soda

• 1tsp kosher salt

• 290g milk at room temp

• 4tbsp unsalted butter (melted)

• 50g vegetable oil

  • I actually used olive oil this time and it really came through in the flavor profile

• 1 egg

Recipe

Pot Roast

1. Cut chuck roast in to 3 inch cubes. Pat dry

   1. For optimal sear, allow to dry on a wire rack in the fridge for a few hours

2. Preheat oven to 350F

3. Heat a dutch oven (or similar) on medium high heat. Add oil, then place chuck roast cubes into pot and let sear. Don’t touch for 4-5 minutes to develop deep brown crust. Seach each side of meat, then remove and set aside on a a plate.

4. While meat sears cut vegetables to desired size. You can play around here, but if the veggies are too small, they will soften into a mush (a delicious mush, at that!)

   1. Chop celery into 3 inch sections

   2. Chop carrots into 2 inch sections

   3. Quarter red onions

   4. Peel and smash garlic

   5. Half mushrooms

5. After meat is removed, lower heat to medium low (the dutch oven will remain hot) and add butter. Once melted, add veggies. Stir vigorously and scrape the bottom of the pan to prevent burning. The searing of the meat should have developed a

   DELICIOUS FOND. This is where a huge portion of the flavor comes from. Allow to cook for 15 mins or so, until veggies are a bit browned.

6. Add tomato paste and stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot. After 5-10 minutes, a thick stew should develop. The tomato paste should have darkened in color.

7. Add meat back to the pot. Add rosemary and bay leaves, then a healthy glug of red wine. A cup or so, but measure with your heart. Stir to incorporate then add beef stock. Stir again until the liquid is uniform in viscosity.

8. Place lid on dutch oven and place into preheated oven. Allow to cook for 3 hours undisturbed. Toward the end of the cooking time, begin to prepare corn bread. Once you remove the dutch oven from your oven, you will bake the corn bread. The dutch oven will retain the heat and keep the roast hot until the cornbread is ready to serve.

Corn Bread

This can be a stand alone recipe, but it pairs SO well with the pot roast.

1. Preheat oven to 375F

2. Grease a round cake pan (I used a 9-inch pan)

   1. You could also do muffins and reduce the baking time a bit

3. Whisk together dry ingredients (flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt)

4. Whisk together wet ingredients (milk, butter, oil, and egg)

   1. First melt butter and allow to come to room temp (I used the microwave)

   2. Make sure milk is room temp (I poured into a bowl before all prep and let sit on counter for a couple hours)

5. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and whisk until it all comes together to a uniform batter.

6. Add batter to pan. Place into oven

7. Bake for 20-25 mins. My oven doesn’t run very hot so I baked for closer to 30.

8. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack (in the pan)

At this point, your house, apartment, trailer, kitchen (car?) or wherever you’re cooking should smell the best that it ever has. If it doesn’t, don’t burst my bubble PLEASE! Ladle the pot roast into a bowl and serve with corn bread.

Take a food induced nap or go to bed at 8pm. Someone remind me to take better pics of the food next time!!!