Pot Roast

This started with the traditional pot roast recipe in Nourishing Traditions, but after the first few steps I took it in my own direction, since it was mostly seasoning-related.  This takes some planning, since it really needs a couple of days, but it is totally worth it.

Recipe:
3-4 pound pot roast
2 cups buttermilk (or Saco buttermilk powder and water)

1 bottle Guinness
1-2 bulbs garlic
1 onion, sliced
Salt
Black pepper
Seasoning such as English Prime Rib Rub, celery seed, thyme, rosemary

Place the pot roast in a 9" x 13" baking pan, pour the buttermilk over it, cover and  refridgerate it for 2 days, turning at least 3 times.

Heat oven to 350°.  Pour the buttermilk out of the pan, season the roast as desired, cover with garlic and onions, pour Guinness over it, and bake, uncovered, for 1 hour.  Baste with pan juices.

Continue to bake the roast at 250° for another 5 hours.  Check and baste it every 45-60 minutes.  When the meat starts to brown, cover it (for me this was into the second hour of cooking).

About 1 hour before serving, add vegetables to the pan and continue baking.

For gravy: remove the roast and vegetables to a serving dish.  Pour the pan juices into a sauce pan and bring to a low simmer.

Place 1/2 cup of juices and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in a lidded container and shake until cornstarch is dissolved.  Add to pan of juices, and stir until slightly thickened.  Add seasoning as desired.


Obviously I only had carrots.

This came out so good.  At one point I was basting the roast and I poked it with the spoon to see how it was coming along and it started to fall apart.  A spoon!  So yeah, this was melt-in-your-mouth tender.  The flavor was great too, the earthiness of Guinness really compliments the beef's natural flavor, and herbs like thyme and rosemary are really fantastic with it.  If you need comfort food, here it is.