Homemade Pot Roast

I don't know about you but when the weather starts to change I think of hearty comfort foods.   With that in mind I thought of pot roast with root vegetables.

Here is my pot roast recipe.

Pot Roast
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 boneless chuck roast (I used a rump roast because it was what I had in the freezer)
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used a Viognier, I already had a partial bottle open)
1-1/2 cups beef broth (I use an Organic Better Than Bouillon Beef Base - I haven't made my own homemade beef broth yet)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups sliced onions
6 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 2-3 inch pieces
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 bay leaves

Heat oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat.  Sear roast on all sides for about 10 minutes.  Transfer to a 4-6 quart slow cooker.  Stir flour into saute pan; cook 1 minute.  Add tomato paste and cook 1 minute more.  De-glaze saute pan with wine, cooking until liquid evaporates.  Stir in broth and Worcestershire sauce; bring mixture to a simmer, scraping up any brown bits.  Transfer broth mixture to the slow cooker and add onions, carrots, garlic, thyme, and bay leaves.  Cover and cook until meat is for tender, on high heat setting for 4-5 hours or on low heat setting for 8-9 hours.  Discard thyme
 and bay leaves before serving.  Serve with gravy.

I also made mashed potatoes to go with this meal.   I keep it very simple when making my potatoes.  Cook peeled and cut up potatoes until soft.  Drain from water add potatoes back into the pan and put on stove.  Add a couple of pats of butter.  Mash potatoes along with butter in pan.   In another pan have milk warming on stove to add to the potatoes.  Add enough warmed milk to make potatoes smooth (continue to mash).  Add salt and pepper to taste.

A side salad was added to the meal as well.  Lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, a couple of croutons and a little Parmesan cheese on top.  Served with a Dijon Vinaigrette dressing.

Dijon Vinaigrette Dressing
2-1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Mix all ingredients together.

The dinner was pulled all together with a really wonderful wine.  We had a Virginia Wine called "3".  It got its name from 3 winemakers, 3 vineyards, 3 varietals, 1 wine.  The wine is 1/3 Merlot, 1/3 Petit Verdot, 1/3 Cabernet Franc.