Day 5 in Sickville quarantine and I’m tired of crackers, water and grapefruit juice.  You’d think I would have lost 10 pounds by now, but my winter stores have fared me a little too well.  Joel is about over this flu and being the good wife that I am, I figured I would throw down a nice home cooked meal for him.

Heck, I’ve got the time; today is a holiday for my office (but not his) so I could start nice and early.  About as early as the kids’ nap time (remember, these two little peanuts are as sick as we are) which was about my only free time today.  A great “set it & forget it” recipe for a cold day is a hearty, flavorful pot roast.

Prep for this pot roast is super easy.  Active cook time is under 10 minutes.  Slow roast time is where this baby takes up the afternoon.  But all you have to do here is set a timer and go back to play and snuggle with the kids.  Joel will think I labored over this to create the depth of flavor this dish packs, but that’s part of my secret: layers of flavor cooked onto each other.  Every step in this is an added layer of flavor that will taste like it took hours of work.

Gather your fixings.  A beef chuck roast, salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, onion (quartered), carrots (peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks), garlic (rough chopped), broth, wine & olive oil.

Heat the oil in a cast iron Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  When the oil starts to lightly smoke, it’s hot and ready.  Add the onions and carrots and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes, until browned, but not burned.  Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.

Remove the veggies to a plate.

Generously season one side of the roast with kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper.  Add to the hot pot, seasoned side down.  While that side is searing, about 1-2 minutes, season the naked side with salt and pepper.  Flip the meat to sear the opposite side for another 1-2 minutes.

Remove to a plate.

De-glaze the pot with 1 cup of red wine (thanks, Justin!  This Tempranillo was last year’s birthday gift.  We cracked this bottle open earlier this month and I knew it was flavorful enough to hold its own in this dish), stirring with a whisk. The super hot pot will bubble, steam up and hiss at you.  Power through, don’t let this scare you.  Scrape up the browned bits and cook for 1-2 minutes to burn off the alcohol.

Put the meat back in the pot and add enough beef broth to cover up ¾ of the meat.

Add the veggies and the herbs.  Cover and roast in the oven for 3 hours.

Good timing; Drew is up from his nap and ready to play!  The ibuprofen has his fever holding at 100, but he’s in good spirits.

Next free chance I get, it’s time to peel and cook the potatoes.  I just need to peel myself away from my darling sickie-poo here.

For just the 4 of us, I use the hand masher and add butter and milk to the hot pot after draining.

Here’s my secret to getting the pot roast fork tender: after the first 3 hours of roasting, remove from the oven, take the meat out of the pot, rough chop into large chunks and return to the pot and roast in the oven for about another hour.

Ding! Even better timing, I only had to steal away from the boys for about 20 minutes to get the potatoes going, and Joel got home right as I was pulling the pot roast from the oven.  Our first real meal since getting sick as a family this weekend and it really hit home.  Delish!

Best Pot Roast Recipe

• One 3-5lb chuck roast
• Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper
• 1 large yellow onion, quartered
• 6-8 carrots, peeled & cut into 2-inch chunks
• 3-4 cloves garlic, rough chopped
• 1 cup red wine (good enough to drink)
• 2-3 cups beef broth, low sodium
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.

Heat the oil in a cast iron Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  When the oil starts to lightly smoke, it’s hot and ready.  Add the onions and carrots and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes, until browned, but not burned.  Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.  Remove the veggies to a plate.

Generously season one side of the roast with kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper.  Add to the hot pot, seasoned side down.  While that side is searing, about 1-2 minutes, season the naked side with salt and pepper.  Flip the meat to sear the opposite side for another 1-2 minutes.  Remove to a plate.

De-glaze the pot with 1 cup of red wine, stirring with a whisk.  The super hot pot will bubble, steam up and hiss at you.  Power through, don’t let this scare you.  Scrape up the browned bits and cook for 1-2 minutes to burn off the alcohol.

Put the meat back in the pot and add enough beef broth to cover up ¾ of the meat.

Add the veggies and the herbs.  Cover and roast in the oven for 3-5 hours (3 hrs for 3 pounder, up to 5 hours for the 5 pounder).  Remove the meat, rough chop into chunks and return to the pot and oven for another hour.  Remove from the oven and serve with stovetop mashed potatoes.

Prep time: 10-15 minutes

Cook time: 4 hours

Makes: 4-6 servings

Stove Top Mashed Potatoes Recipe

• 4-6 Yukon gold or russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
• ¼ cup of butter or margarine
• ½ -1 cup milk
• ½-1 teaspoon salt & pepper, to taste

Peel and quarter potatoes, add to salted, cold water in a saucepan.  Cook over medium-high heat, covered, at a full boil for about 20 minutes.  Once the spuds are fork tender, drain and return to the pot.  Let the residual heat dry them out.

Add the butter, milk, salt and pepper and smash together to as smooth as you like your potatoes.  Personally, I like them a little lumpy so I know they’re not boxed.

Cook time: 30 minutes

Makes: 4-6 servings