Time Stretcher Recipe
Oh my... just look at all the French in the name. But the translation is easy-- Roast Beef of the Azure Coast. It's the way pot roast is done along the Riviera and it is an excellent way to turn an otherwise mundane cut of beef into an exceptional meal. It comes-out like pulled-pork and makes its own onion gravy as it cooks. Prep time is next to nothing and it only dirties one pot.
-
English cut shoulder roast, about 6 ounces per serving.
-
Chef Nick's Roast Beef Blend (as needed).
-
One medium size sharp (don't use sweet) onion, sliced, per serving.
-
1/4 cup good beef stock per serving.
-
Olive oil for sweating the onions and searing the meat.
-
1 celery stalk, cut into 1-inch chunks per serving.
-
1 carrot, cut into 1-inch chunks per serving.
-
Trim any external fat from the roast.
-
Preheat the oven to 400°F (400°C).
-
Rub the roast all over with olive oil and then liberally coat it with Chef Nick's Roast Beef Blend. The trick to this dish is making certain that the entire outside of the roast is covered with the seasoning as it forms a crust during the cooking. Set the seasoned roast aside for now.
-
Using a minimum amount of olive oil saute the sliced onions until the just begin to caramelize. Remove the onions, and their juices to a bowl making certain that the dutch oven is dry.
-
Add very little olive oil to the dutch oven, raise the heat to medium-high and then LIGHTLY brown all sides of the roast. The idea is to toast the seasoning and form a crust, not to cook the meat. Remove the roast to a plate and make sure you save the juices.
-
Put half the sauted onion in the dutch oven. Place the roast atop the onion and then cover the roast with the remaining onion. Put the carrots and celery all around the roast, but not on top of it. Add the stock and bring the stock to a boil.
-
Cover the dutch oven and place in the preheated oven. Forget about it for 3-4 hours. Don't look at it, don't poke it with a meat thermometer, just leave it alone.
-
When done, remove the veggies first and save as a side dish. Save the onion for the gravy. Try to get the roast out of the pot in one piece using a very large spatula. This will not be easy since it will be falling-apart tender but it's worth trying since it looks very pretty on the serving plate.
While it is traditional to serve this with potatoes (mashed or otherwise) you can jack-up the Riviera theme of the meal by serving it with a creamy polenta instead. The carrots and celery give it a side vegetable but they will be very soft; to provide a texture change on the side try some raw or very lightly blanched cauliflower florets that have been tossed in olive oil with crushed garlic.