Perfect Pot Roast

Ingredients

First and foremost, choose a nicely marbled piece of meat. This will enhance the flavor of your pot roast like nothing else. Generously salt and pepper your chuck roast.
Preheat the oven to 275˚F. Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Then, add the olive oil (or you can do half butter, half olive oil).
Cut the onions in half and cut the carrots into 2-inch slices. When the oil in the pot is very hot (but not smoking), add in the onions, browning them on one side and then the other. Remove the onions to a plate.
Throw the carrots into the same very hot pan and toss them around a bit until slightly browned, about a minute or so.
If needed, add a bit more olive oil to the very hot pan. Place the meat in the pan and sear it for about a minute on all sides, until it is nice and brown all over. Remove the roast to a plate.
With the burner still on high, use either red wine or beef broth (about 1 cup) to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom with a whisk to get all of that wonderful flavor up.
When the bottom of the pan is sufficiently deglazed, place the roast back into the pan and add enough of the beef stock to cover the meat halfway. Add in the onion, carrots, rosemary sprigs, and thyme sprigs. Add tomato paste if using (it makes the liquid a little richer.)
Put the lid on, then roast in the oven for 3 hours (for a 3-pound roast). For a 4- to 5-pound roast, plan on 4 hours.

by Kimberly Hartzler