Red Wine-And-Garlic Pot Roast
Submitted by ALB
Red wine pot roast braised low and slow with 24 cloves of garlic, carrots, celery, and thyme. Fork-tender beef with a rich, butter-finished pan sauce strained from the vegetables.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
165 minREADY
185 minThis pot roast leans hard into garlic. Twenty-four whole cloves go in alongside the beef, and by the time the braise is done, they’ve melted into the sauce, giving it a sweet, roasted garlic depth that’s impossible to get any other way.
The method here is smart. The roast cooks covered with just the vegetables and oil for the first 30 minutes, which lets it start rendering fat and building fond. Then the red wine, bay leaves, thyme, and peppercorns go in and the whole thing braises for another 2 ½ to 3 hours until the beef is fork-tender.
The finishing step makes the sauce: vegetables get pressed through a strainer so their juices thicken the liquid, then broth and butter are whisked in over heat. That butter emulsifies into a glossy, restaurant-quality sauce without any flour or cornstarch. Press the cooked garlic and vegetables firmly against the sieve to get every bit of flavor out.
Kitchen Tips
- Use a full-bodied dry red wine you’d actually drink. Cheap cooking wine will make the sauce taste thin and acidic.
- A Dutch oven is ideal. The heavy lid traps moisture and the thick walls distribute heat evenly for a tender braise.
- Let the roast rest in the turned-off oven while you build the sauce. It reabsorbs juices and slices cleaner.
- Whole peppercorns rather than ground give a more subtle, aromatic heat that doesn’t overpower the wine.
Variations
- Add a handful of pearl onions with the carrots for a more classic French pot roast.
- Stir a tablespoon of tomato paste into the vegetables before adding wine for deeper color and savory richness.
- Swap thyme for rosemary and add a strip of orange peel for a Provençal twist.
Ingredients
Directions
Heat the oil over medium heat on the stove top in a heavy pot with a lid or a Dutch oven.
Add the roast and surround it with carrots, celery and garlic.
If cooking the roast on the stove top, cover the pot tightly and reduce heat to low.
Use a burner heat diffuser if you have one.
If using the oven method, cover tightly and place on the middle rack of the oven.
Cook for 30 minutes.
Remove cover, add the red wine, salt, pepper, bay leaves and thyme.
Replace cover and continue to cook for 2½-to-3 hours.
Transfer the roast from the pot to a baking dish , cover and keep warm in the turned-off or slow oven for up to 15 minutes.
Place the pot on top of the stove over medium heat and add the broth and butter.
Cook, stirring vigorously until the butter is incorporated.
Remove the roast from the oven, slice into serving pieces and arrange on a serving platter.
Strain the pan juices over the roast, pressing the vegetables against the sieve or strainer to extract all their juices.
Serve immediately and pass any extra sauce in a sauce boat.
Comments
