Classic Pot Roast With Carrots & Fingerling Potatoes (and some pretty big news)

So I'm gonna be honest here, I totally winged this recipe and I pretty much had no idea what I was doing or how it was going to turn out (just what you wanted to hear from a food blogger, right?!)

I haven't really cooked a big hunk o' beef since culinary school so when Lewis mentioned he wanted pot roast for dinner, I knew it was time to dust off my culinary knowledge. I remember that there was at least three necessary steps in making a delicious pot roast,
Step 1:The cut of meat, you want a cut with some fat like a chuck roast because as you know, fat = flavor.
Step 2: Brown your meat before roasting (aka braising). This step is crucial in order seal in all those tasty juices annnd helps on our next step which is...
Step 3:Use the juices and crispy bits leftover from browning the meat to cook your veggies.

I included the choice of using either red wine OR balsamic vinegar because if you're not fond of that slightly alcoholic taste, you can just use that semi-sweet acidity in the vinegar to balance out the savory flavor of the broth.

Classic Pot Roast With Carrots & Fingerling Potatoes

serves 2-3

2-3 TBS vegetable or canola oil
1-2 pound Chuck Roast (I choose a smaller cut since it was only for one person)
1 medium to large yellow onion, chopped
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar OR red wine
2-3 TBS Dijon mustard
5 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1-2 tsp dried thyme)
pinch of dried rosemary
2 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
2 bunches small carrots, with tops cut off
1 pound very small baby potatoes or fingerling tricolored potatoes
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 275F. Place potatoes and carrots in roasting pan.
2.Heat oil in a large dutch oven over high heat (if you don't have a dutch oven like me then just use a sauce pan then transfer to roasting pan later on). Season chuck roast well with salt and pepper, add to pan and brown well on all sides (a few minutes a side). Remove roast and set on top of carrots and taters.
3.Add chopped onions to drippings in pot and reduce heat to medium. Saute onions until soft, about 5 minutes. Add balsamic vinegar (or red wine) and deglaze pan, increase heat to medium-high and boil until reduced and slightly syrupy, about 4-5 more minutes. Stir in Dijon and stock.
4.Pour onion mix on top of meat and all over veggies, add herbs and cover and bake for about two hours or until tender (check after an hour).

Speaking of big hunks of meat, I thought this would be a fitting post to announce that after applying pretty much everywhere across the U.S. Lewis and I will be moving too...

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Yep, Houston, TX ya'll a place that is pretty much a complete mystery to us - which is both thrilling and terrifying. While it's not my first choice (I was hoping for mountains and cooler weather) after splitting my time/work between rural GA and Jacksonville, FL it's going to be a breath of fresh air finally settling down in one place, not to mention all the new food places we get to explore! We'll be flying out there next week to scope out the area and hopefully find a place to live so if any ex or current Texans are out there feel free to comment and give us some advice!