Ring in Autumn with Comfort Food: Crock-Pot Pot Roast Recipe

This recipe is great to prep ahead and cook all day for an easy evening meal. For those of you in back-to-back Zoomland or being parent/teacher/warden, some go-to crock-pot recipes might be for you. 

Cheffy Tip: Use a bouquet garni, a small parcel of herbs (and potentially other ingredients) that flavor a stew, soup, or sauce. Simply bundle things together with kitchen twine or make a small sachet out of cheesecloth to fill and tie off. 

Ingredients: 

• 4-5 lb. chuck roast 
• 2 Tbs. vegetable or canola oil
• 2 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. coarse ground pepper
• 2-3 crushed garlic cloves
• 1 tsp. whole black peppercorns (optional—depending on your taste for pepper, add more to meat if skipping this in the bouquet garni)
• 4-5 thyme sprigs
• 1-2 rosemary sprigs
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1 lb. carrots, peeled and cut in 2" chunks
• 2 lbs. Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut in large chunks
• 1-2 yellow onions, cut into large chunks
• 1 1/2 c. beef broth + 2 Tbs. for cornstarch slurry
• 1/2 c. red wine (optional—increase beef broth if you skip wine)
• 1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce (optional)
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard (optional)
• 1 1/2 tsp. Gravy Master or Kitchen Bouquet (optional)
• 2-3 Tbs. cornstarch (may need more for desired thickness)
• 2 Tbs. of cold water (if you want to use instead of beef broth w/cornstarch)

1. 
   Assemble the bouquet garni with garlic, peppercorns, thyme, rosemary, and the bay leaf. Place in the center of the crock-pot. Dried herbs and spices can be substituted instead of fresh.
2. Prep the onion, carrots, and potatoes and add them.
3. Season the roast generously with the salt and pepper. Heat a big pan on medium-high and add oil. (You may also brush oil directly onto the roast; this tends to make less splatter mess and reduce the oil used.)
4. When the pan is good and hot, add the roast to sear. Let it cook 3-5 minutes per side. Lay meat on top of veggies in the pot. 
5. (Optional) While the pan is still hot, deglaze it with wine or broth. If there's excess oil in the pan, drain it first. With the heat still on, pour a few tablespoons of the liquid (wine or broth) into the pan and gently scrape the delicious brown bits off the bottom. When all or most of the stuck-on goodness is free, pour the liquid into the crock-pot over the meat. 
6. Mix beef broth, wine, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and Gravy Master together well and pour over meat and veggies. 
7. Cook on low heat for 8-10 hours or high 4-5.
8. To thicken gravy, you may add the cornstarch slurry (made from combining the cornstarch and broth or water) for the last hour or so of cooking. Alternatively, when cooking is complete, remove the meat and veggies from the pot (discarding the bouquet garni after squeezing it out). Transfer the liquid into a pan on the stove top and thicken with the slurry over high heat. The latter approach provides better results for me. Pour the gravy over the vegetables and serve. 

You can do the prep ahead of time and put the filled, ready-to-go crock-pot insert in the fridge, covered, overnight. In the morning, pull the crock-pot insert out and let it warm up prior to starting cooking.