Now that the weather’s turning I’ve pulled my slow-cooker back into action, and I thought I’d kick off the season with one of my favorites: pot roast. Simple, inexpensive, and wonderfully leftover-generating, this is also the perfect busy-person meal: you spend ten minutes putting things together in the morning, turn the slow-cooker on low, and arrive home to an absolutely spectacular-smelling apartment (and a fantastic, filling meal).
This recipe can serve 4-6, but this is the amount I make for just us two so that we’ll have leftovers the next night (and possibly the night afterwards, depending on our appetites). Pot roast is one of those things that tastes exponentially better the next day, so plan ahead.
What you need:
2 lb chuck roast (or ask your butcher for an appropriate cut)
1 cup red wine
1 cup beef stock
3-4 Idaho potatoes
2-3 sweet potatoes
2-3 parsnips
1 cup baby carrots
1 onion, peeled and cut in half
Season salt
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
What you do:
1. Generously season the meat with salt, pepper, and season salt.
2. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and brown the meat on all sides.
3. Peel the potatoes, sweet potatoes and parsnips and cut them into large chunks.
4. Place all the vegetables in your slow-cooker and set the browned meat on top. Pour over red wine (and maybe a cup of beef stock if you like lots of gravy). Turn slow-cooker to low and go do your thing for ten hours or so.
5. When you get home, remove the meat and potatoes from the slow cooker and shred the meat using two forks. You may want to set the gravy in a pan over low heat and whisk in a little flour to thicken it; up to you.
