South Shore Pot Roast

Difficulty rating: 4 chef's hats (out of 5)

Chef Jonboy says: "There is something satisfying about sitting around a table with your family this time of year. You’ve all made it through the winter and corresponding mud season. Congratulations! Now it’s time to prepare a simple celebratory roast that you can all enjoy together. We’ll be using an abundance of local foods in this dinner feast, all of them fairly easy to acquire from your local farmers and food cooperatives. Come on into my kitchen.  Here’s what we’ll be making."

Ingredients:

• 2-3 pound chuck roast (or any beef/venison roast)
• 2 cups of red cooking wine
• 2 cups of soup stock
• 2 cloves of garlic- peeled and minced
• 1 pound of button mushrooms- sliced
• 1 red onion- diced
• 1 cup of brown sugar 
• Chopped parsley and oregano for garnish
• 2 pounds of potatoes
• 1/8 pound of butter
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Milk or heavy whipping cream as needed
• ½ cup of grated cheddar cheese
• Flour and butter for gravy 
• Asparagus 

 
Directions:
In a roasting pan or Dutch oven, heat a small amount of olive oil over medium heat. Add your roast and commence to browning it on all sides. Now you can add your wine and simmer over low heat, turning your roast occasionally. Now add the soup stock and reduce all the liquid by half. At this point, add your prepared garlic, mushrooms, onion, and brown sugar. Cover the pan and place in a 275 F degree oven for about two hours. You can vary the roasting time to accommodate your desired tenderness and doneness of your roast. After it has reached it desired doneness, you can coat it in your chopped herbs and let it rest for slicing.

While the roast is in the oven, boil the potatoes until tender. Drain them and add the butter, milk, cheese, and salt and pepper, mixing thoroughly.

With the pan juices left over in your roasting pan, you can make a delicious gravy for your roast and potatoes. Combine flour and butter to make a pasty roux.  Boil the pan juices and whisk the roux into the pot until it thickens into a satisfying gravy.

To round out the meal, simply steam delicious asparagus until it achieves a tender consistency.  There you have it--a meal that is simple to make, locally sourced, and will readily serve a family of six.  

Bon Appétit!

Inspired by Chef Jonboy of Penokee Mountain Foods in Marengo, WI