Red Wine Pot Roast

Red Wine Pot Roast

One of the most comfy winter foods there is. This traditional dish is made even more delicious when marinated and cooked in a red wine sauce.

Normally pot roasts don't require any pre-tenderizing treatments (like a marinate) because the slow cooking itself tenderizes the meat.

Well... then I learned about the Sauerbraten, a German type of pot roast that is marinated for almost 1 week before is cooked. Naturally, I was curious. 

Unfortunately, I can't count "patience"  as one of my qualities, so I decided to take a short-cut and marinated my beef for 24 hrs. 

The result was amazing: the meat was tender, moist and flavorful. Also, I find that braising (slow cooking in liquids at low temperatures) tend to leave a very characteristic flavor to the meat and I was pleased NOT to notice it in this roast. 

And the best part? You can prepare it in a slow cooker. ;)

Red Wine Pot Roast

Preparation time (marinating + cooking): 28 hrs

Yield: 3 portions

Level: Medium

Marinate

• 2 Garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup Chopped onion
• 1 Carrot (small)
• 1 Celery stalk
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 tbsp of Fresh thyme
• 2 tsp of Dried basil
• 1 cup of Red wine (I used Chianti) 
• 1/3 cup of Olive oil
• 700g Beef bottom round
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Additional

• 2 tbsp of Olive oil
• 2 tbsp of Flour
• 1 cup of Beef stock
• Fresh thyme for garnish

Trim any fat from around the meat. Mix all marinating ingredients and leave meat soaking for 24hrs.. Turn the meat halfway through the marinating time. 

Remove beef from the liquids, pat it dry and coat it with some of the flour. Heat roasting pot to high, add the 2 tbsp of olive oil and brown the meat on all sides. Remove beef from the heat and add the rest of the flour and mix it so it's coated by the fat. Reduce the heat to low and after a couple of minutes, add the red wine mixture. Return meat to the pan, bring liquid to a gentle simmer, cover and cook it for 2:30 hrs. Careful: do not let the liquids boil!!!!

Remove meat from the pan and sift the sauce. If the sauce is still not thickened to your liking, return it to the pan and boil it down to the desired thickness. 

Slice the meat, pour the sauce on top of it and sprinkle with fresh thyme.