It's a great thing that slow cooking is
back in fashion. There's nothing like arriving
home to find beef with wine cooking in your slow
cooker, all ready to eat. This is a
country-style pot roast using one cup of red
wine -- take your choice of any full-bodied red
such as Zinfandel, Barbera, Barolo, or
Sangiovesi. Wine and lots of onion blending for
seven or eight hours is a beautiful thing. The
extra steps in pre-browning ingredients before
placing in the slow cooker is worth it in the
wonderful savory taste that results from the
slow cooking process.
Ingredients:
- 1 large boneless beef chuck roast (51/2-6
lbs, tied
- salt and pepper
- 4 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 3 medium onions, chopped
- a large celery rib, chopped
- 4 medium carrots, chopped
- 6 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Preparation:
Season roast liberally with salt and pepper.
Heat 2 teaspoons oil in 12-inch skillet over
medium high heat, along with onions, celery,
carrots and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally,
until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer
to slow cooker.
Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining 2
teaspoons oil to empty skillet, along with
onions, celery, carrots, and garlic. Cook,
stirring occasionally, until lightly browned,
about 4 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker.
Increase heat to high. Add red wine to empty
skillet, scraping up any browned bits with a
wooden spoon, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add
tomatoes and broth and bring to a boil. Add
pepper flakes, bay leaves, and thyme and
transfer to slow cooker.
Set slow cooker to high, cover and cook for 6
to seven hours. For those with an automatic
setting (which puts the cooker on high for the
first hour and then shifts to low), cook for 8
to nine hours.
Transfer roast to carving board., and loosely
tent with foil to keep warm. Let slow cooker
settle for 5 minutes, then skim off excess fat
from the surface. Puree the liquid and solids in
batches in a food processor or blender. Or do it
with an immersion blender right in the slow
cooker insert. Stir in parsley and season to
taste with salt and pepper.
Remove strings from the roast and cut into
1/2-inch slices. Transfer meat to a platter.
Pour about 1 cup of gravy over meat. Serve,
passing more gravy separately. Serves 6.
