Wonderful Pot Roast.

A few weeks ago, I decided to make a pot roast for the first time. I saw the recipe in the Pioneer Woman Cooks and it looked fairly easy so I thought I'd give it a try. First thing first, I needed a dutch oven and since I do not own one, my friend Maia offered to let me borrow one of hers. More on that later.

Ingredients:

- 2 or 3 Tbsp olive oil

- Kosher salt

- One 3 to 5 pound chuck roast

- 2 onions

- 6 to 8 carrots

- pepper

- 2 to 2 1/2 cups beef stock

- 3 or 4 fresh rosemary sprigs

- 2 or 3 fresh thyme sprigs

Pre-heat the oven to 275 degrees.

Heat a large pot or Dutch Oven over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and let it get really hot. While it heats, prepare the other ingredients.

Generously salt the chuck roast on both sides.

Cut a couple of onions in half from root to tip. Then cut off the tops and bottoms and peel off the papery skin.

When the pot is very hot, place the onions in the oil and brown on both sides, about a minute per side. Remove the onions to a plate.

Next, thoroughly wash, but son't peel the carrots. Cut them roughly into 2-inch slices.

Throw the carrots into the same (very hot) pot. Toss them around until slightly brown, about a minute or so.

Remove the carrots from the pot and allow to get really hot again. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan.

Place the meat in the pot and sear it, about a minute per side. Remove to a plate.

Now, with the burner on high, deglaze the pot by adding 1 cup of the beef stock, whisking constantly. The point of deglazing is to loosen all the burned, flavorful bits from the bottom of the pot.

When most of the bits are loosened, place the meat back in the pot.

Followed by the carrots and onions. Pour enough beef stock into the pot to cover the meat halfway.

Next, put in the thyme and rosemary sprigs. The fresh herbs absolutely make this dish. Tuck them in the juice to ensure that the flavors are distributed throughout the pot.

Now, cover the pot and roast in the oven for 3 to 5 hours, depending on the size of your roast. For a 3 pound roast, allow for 3 to 3 1/2 hours. For a 5 pound roast, allow for 4 to 5 hours cooking time. Don't disrupt the roast during the cooking process.

When the cooking time is over, check the roast for doneness, a fork should go in easily and the meat should be very tender. Remove the meat to a cutting board and slice against the grain.

I served my pot roast with broccoli and mashed potatoes. It was delicious!

Now, something terrible happened to Maia's Dutch Oven while it was in my oven. After we were done eating, I went back into the kitchen to put the left overs away and when I emptied the pot from the rest of the onions/carrots and the juices from the pot roast, this is what I found:

When I saw that, my heart sank, I was devastated. I had ruined Maia's pot. I sent her a very apologetic email and thankfully she answered back and told not to worry, that it was just probably a bad quality pot. Still, Maia, I am sorry I ruined your pot!