Natasha's Pot Roast (Slow Cooker)

Natasha cooks this pot roast in a Dutch oven at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for three to four hours, roughly an hour per pound of chuck. The flavour building happens on the hob: searing the seasoned roast on all sides, sautéing onion and garlic, blooming tomato paste, deglazing with dry red wine, then adding beef stock, fresh thyme, parsley and bay leaves before the long braise. Because slow cookers do the same job as a low oven, the hob steps stay and the braise moves into the slow cooker on Low 8 hours or High 4 hours. Finished by shredding the meat and stirring it back into a cornstarch thickened sauce.

Ingredients

• beef chuck roast, seasoned generously with salt and pepper, brought to room temperature for about 1 hour before searing
• kosher salt, for seasoning the meat generously
• freshly cracked black pepper, for seasoning the meat
• 1 tbspcooking oil, for searing the roast

• 6medium carrots, peeled, sliced into 2 inch (5 cm) pieces
• 1large yellow onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 4garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped

• 6 sprigsfresh thyme, left whole on the stems
• fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
• bay leaves, added whole, fished out at the end

• tomato paste
• dry red wine, for deglazing
• beef stock

• 2 tbspcornstarch, stirred into 2 tablespoons of cold water to make a slurry (add late)
• 2 tbspcold water, for the cornstarch slurry (add late)

Method

1. Season the chuck roast generously all over with kosher salt and pepper. Leave on the counter for about 1 hour to come to room temperature so it cooks more evenly.

   ~60 min

2. Peel 5 to 6 medium carrots and slice them into 2 inch (5 cm) pieces. Keep them big so they hold up to the long cook.

   ~5 min

3. Peel the onion and coarsely chop it. No need for neatness, it disappears into the sauce.

   ~3 min

4. Coarsely chop the parsley. Lay out about 6 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves left on the stems. Peel and coarsely chop 4 garlic cloves.

   ~4 min

5. Set a large Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, then lower in the roast. Sear on each side for about 3 minutes until golden brown, then flip to the next side. Brown all sides. Transfer to a plate.

   ~15 min

6. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the chopped onion and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes until soft and golden.

   ~5 min

7. Add the chopped garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds, just until fragrant.

   ~1 min

8. Add the tomato paste and stir for about 2 minutes until it is well incorporated with the onions and garlic.

   ~2 min

9. Pour in the dry red wine and scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until about a quarter of the wine has evaporated.

   ~3 min

10. Add the beef stock, the thyme sprigs, the chopped parsley and the bay leaves. Season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper and stir to combine.

    ~2 min

11. Tip the contents of the Dutch oven into the slow cooker. Nestle the seared roast on top and add the carrots around it. Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours or on High for 4 hours, until the meat shreds easily with two forks or reaches an internal temperature of 200 to 210 degrees Fahrenheit (93 to 99 Celsius).

    ~480 min

12. Transfer the meat and the carrots to a separate dish. Pour the braising liquid into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

    ~3 min

13. For a thicker, gravy-like sauce, stir 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into 2 tablespoons of cold water to make a slurry. Pour into the simmering liquid and simmer for a few minutes until thickened and the raw cornstarch flavour has cooked off.

    ~5 min

14. Shred the meat by hand into large pieces. Natasha's tip: wear cotton work gloves under disposable gloves to handle the hot meat.

    ~5 min

15. Return the shredded meat and the carrots to the sauce. Toss to coat so the meat soaks up the flavour. Fish out and discard the thyme stems and bay leaves.

    ~3 min

16. Serve over mashed potatoes, ladling plenty of the saucy gravy over the top.

    ~2 min

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