One More Winter Meal

 As much as I love cold weather comfort foods, the season for hearty stews and soups is coming to an end. Rhubarb appearing in my dreams, cravings for all things green, edible or not, have started.

We had a few of what I consider warm days….40 degrees and no wind chill and those were enough for me to want to pack up my casseroles, open all the windows and start digging for dirt. 

Then today, a reminder that spring is still not as close as I thought. More comfort food for a little while longer I guess.

Here then is one more hearty meal to make it through until spring really does arrive.

Pot roast is one of my staples in the arctic months, and so easy to make. Just spend a little time browning the meat and cutting onions and the oven does the rest. If you make enough you can have leftovers and hot pot roast and gravy sandwiches for a few days as well. I suggest making this a day ahead, it’s so much more flavorful after a day or two.

Braised Pot Roast with Carrots and Parsnips

Beef chuck roast, about 3 to 4 lbs

fat for browning, 2 or 3 TBL

good salt and pepper

1 bay leaf

thyme or oregano (a few sprigs) or dried (1 TBL)

1 large onion, chopped

2 carrots, cut into large chunks

2 parsnips, cut into large chunks

1 clove garlic, smashed

2 cups red wine

2 to 3 cups beef or vegetable stock

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Season the roast well with salt and pepper. In a large casserole or Dutch oven, heat fat (bacon fat, lard, olive oil) until very hot and brown the roast well on all sides. Remove to a plate.

Add the chopped onion, garlic, carrots, parsnips and bay leaf to the fat remaining (add more if you need to) and sauté about 5 minutes until vegetables are well coated and softened.

Add wine and bring everything to a boil, stirring up all the bits on the bottom. 

Return the roast to the pot, add the broth and herbs. Make sure the liquid comes halfway up the roast, add water or more stock if needed. When simmering again, cover and bake about 2 hours, until meat is very tender.

To make gravy, remove the meat, all but 1 of the carrots, parsnips and bay leaf. Keep warm.

Carefully puree the liquid in a blender, a few cups at a time. Please be careful, hot liquids in blenders can become dangerous if filled too high. Blending the liquid with some vegetables will thicken the sauce without having to add any of the usual thickeners like flour or arrowroot. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Return the meat, vegetables and sauce to the pot and keep warm until it’s time to eat.

You can cut the roast into large chunks or shred with 2 forks. Serve with mashed or boiled potatoes and pour sauce over all. 

 I like to serve this with applesauce, which if you don’t have can be made while the roast is cooking.

Happy Spring!

illustration by me

Celery Root and Parsnip Bake

 

This dish is one I had planned to make for Thanksgiving but somehow never found the time (no, really?) In fact I was so busy even prior to this holiday I had to put off so many things, this blog included. (Sorry everyone) My daughter and son-in-law moved back from England in September and I helped them move into a new apartment in Burlington, Vermont. My other daughter flew in from Washington, D.C. and we spent several days looking for wedding dresses for the July wedding. (We found one!)

I got back from all this the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and was having 13 people for the 20 pound turkey two days later. But it all went (fairly) well even though I didn’t make some of the things I had intended to, this one in particular.

This delicious dish comes from the Nigel Slater cookbook Tender. I love this cookbook, everything about it is simple, the recipes, the photographs, the text. It is exactly how I cook, using simple, fresh ingredients and only a few steps in each recipe.

Ingredients:

onion – 1 large

parsnip – 1 pound

celery root -1 pound

butter – 5 1/2 TBL

thyme leaves – a teaspoon

vegetable stock – 6 1/2 TBL  ( I used chicken stock)

salt and pepper

Peel and slice the onion into rounds. Put into a large bowl. Peel the parsnips and and celery root and cut into very fine slices. I suggest a mandoline so the slices are almost paper thin. Put into the bowl with the onion and toss all together.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt the butter in a shallow ovenproof pan, then add the vegetables, layering them neatly or not, and add salt, pepper and thyme leaves. Be generous with the salt.

Now pour the stock over the top. Although the original recipe calls for only a little bit of stock, I added enough to almost cover the vegetables.

Cover with foil, press down a bit so it’s nice and flat, and bake about an hour and 15 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a knife.

Remove the foil, increase the heat to 425 and bake for another 10 minutes until the top is brown and crisped a bit.

 

You could substitute many other vegetables for the parsnip and/or celery root here. Remember to use vegetables that take about the same time to cook. You could top with some cheese as well, Parmesan or Cheddar would be tasty.

 

Here’s one thing we did have on Thanksgiving, Island Creek oysters, brought to us courtesy of the “oyster dude” C.J.