Uncorned corned beef

I am a big fan of the corned beef, Jeff, well, not so much. Not that he doesn't like it, per se, more that he doesn't like to eat it. And one of the meals that I very much look forward to every year, next to Thanksgiving of course, is corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's day. Now last year I was an ambitious, do-it-yourselfer and made the whole thing start to finish. It was fantastic, but we ended up with about 4 pounds of leftover corned beef. So this year, I decided that perhaps it wasn't the best idea to spend a week corning beef and $30 (or whatever it is) for the meat, only to eat a half a pound of it.

So this year, I decided on Shepherd's Pie for St. Patrick's Day, much easier and quicker and simpler, and I didn't have to be on top of my game a week before I wanted to actually eat (to start the preparations). But somewhere between Monday and Friday I was watching a Food Network show, Everyday Italian, and she made an Italian pot roast that looked so delicious that I had to make it as soon as possible. I figured that I could make Shepherd's pie with the leftovers and that pot roast was kind of like corned beef in that it was slow cooked meat that was tender and delicious. It's almost the same, right? So what if it's a different cut of beef, not actually brined, and that we didn't actually eat it on St. Patrick's Day.

So I headed to the store for a four pound block of chuck roast, an unfamiliar cut of beef to me. Jeff asked me where it came from (to which I replied "the cow"), and all I knew was that it is a tough cut...that is, best cooked for a very long time. Which usually means it's from the shoulder area or some other part that gets a lot of exercise. I found this terrible diagram which lays it out, and as it turns out, it is from the shoulder (I sang a little "I am so smart, s-m-r-t" song in my head ... Simpson's anyone??). The diagram is terrible because it has things on it like "ground beef" and "stew" as if those cuts of meat come off the cow directly in their ground or chopped form. Anywho, back to the pot roast.

So I'm not exactly sure what a "normal" pot roast consists of, apparently because according to my mom "you didn't eat used to eat pot roast" - so not ever have really eaten it, I wasn't sure what to put in it. The one I saw on Everyday Italian was obviously Italian-ized and I wanted something a little more traditional. In typical fashion I found a few recipes and then made up my own. I think, however, the real success of this dish (those who tasted it feel free to contradict) was the sauce. And this was pretty much my own pure genius (not to toot my own horn or anything). After the pot roast finished it's 3 hour marathon braise, I took out the meat and surveyed the surviving ingredients left in the pot. It didn't look terribly appetizing, mostly mashed up vegetables and herbs floating in fat (I told you it didn't sound appetizing). Determined to make this into a sauce, I skimmed the fat and then surveyed the fridge. Wine and broth. Perfect.

I added some wine and some broth until it had enough liquid that I could use my handy-dandy immersion blender. I whizzed it up and gave it a taste...dee-freakin'-licious. So it wasn't corned beef, but it certainly hit the spot for my longing of tender slow cooked meat, plus I didn't have to do it a week in advance. Of course, we ate almost all of it and there was no hope of Shepherd's pie with the leftovers...maybe next year.

Pot Roast
1 3-4 pound chuck roast
2 T of olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
3-4 stalks of celery, chopped into big chunks
6-8 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
1 cup of mushrooms
2 sprigs of rosemary
4 sprigs of thyme
1 cup of chicken or beef broth
1 cup of the juice from canned tomatoes and a couple of the tomatoes too (or you could probably use 1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes)
1/2 cup red wine
broth as needed

Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat until hot (not smoking). Liberally salt and pepper the meat on all sides and put into the pan. Brown the meat on all sides, and as tempting as it is to either a) move the meat a lot or b) not let it brown for very long, resist the temptation! The total browning time should take about 15 minutes, about 4 or so minutes on each side. Remove meat from pan and add onions and garlic and saute for 3-4 minutes and then add the celery. Cook until vegetables begin to soften, a couple more minutes. Add the 2 cups of liquids - broth and tomato juice, and scrape down the pan, getting all the luscious bits off the bottom. Add the herbs (whole, on the stem), the mushrooms and the meat and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper and turn the heat down and cover and simmer over low heat for about 3 hours until tender (knife should go in easily). Remove the meat, stems from the rosemary and thyme (all of the leaves should have fallen off) and the mushrooms and set aside. Skim fat off the top and turn the heat up. Add the wine and let it reduce for a couple of minutes and then add enough broth to be able to use the immersion blender (or alternatively, if you're putting it in a blender, add enough to make a thick gravy-like sauce). Taste it and add salt and pepper (or more broth or more wine) as needed. Let the meat rest for 15 minutes, cut, smother with sauce, and enjoy!