Date: Sunday, August 3 , 2014
Time: 7:30 p.m
Number of guests: 10 pax
Location: Bandar Utama
Over the weekend, this still being the month of Syawal and all, Rudy and I decided to assemble the Round Knights of the Table for a round of food, drink, and merriment. For a group of 10, I made something based on Emeril’s pot roast with my own assortment of root vegetables, with a bunch of other stuff on the menu:
Pot Roast | Tarragon Chicken Salad | French Onion Soup | Bayou Chicken Pasta | Crusty bread (courtesy of Yaz) | Peanut butter cup and vanilla bean ice cream (courtesy of WYLT) | Lots and lots of A&W Root Beer and Zappel (courtesy of Steph & Huang)
Updated 28 Dec 2019 with new photos. I used to only get my nicely trussed chuck roasts from upmarket grocers like Village Grocer, but not only is it more expensive, it is also very difficult to find a whole roast bigger than 2 pounds/1 kg. The TTDI wet market was always an option, but unfortunately the butcher refused to help me truss up my roast, which became a blocker for me for a long while. Fast forward five years after, with a lot more cooking experience and a stronger feeling of curiosity, I bought the right sized (but completely odd-shaped) roast from the TTDI wet market, and trussed it myself. It turned out to be a super easy task, as long as you have the right tutorial video. I found this one on Youtube to be the most helpful. You can find cotton twine for trussing at most stationery stores, just make sure they don’t have any plastic coating. You are actually less likely to find them in the kitchen section of department stores.
A few lessons learned: when cutting slits into the roast, it is a lot easier to cut along the grain of the meat. I also need to keep practicing on trussing the roast such that the meat is properly even-sized throughout.
Do give this recipe a try – you’ll be surprised how easy it is to make.
Ingredients
- 1 (1.5 to 2 kg) beef chuck roast – patted dry and trussed
- 10 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled
- Drizzle of olive oil
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup red grape juice OR prune juice
- Beef stock cubes, enough for 3 cups stock
- 400 gm chat potatoes (about 4), quartered OR cocktail potatoes, halved (about 8)
- 2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
- 250 grams baby carrots
- 400 grams (about 2 small) sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into equal-sized pieces as the potatoes
- 400 grams (about 16 large) button mushrooms, halved
- 1/4 cup plain flour
- 1/2 cup water
Directions
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C (fan 140 degrees C).
Make 10 slits throughout the roast.
Stuff a clove of garlic in each slit.
Rub the entire roast with the olive oil.
Season with salt, about 1/4 teaspoon per side, and black pepper.
Heat a large skillet, over medium heat. When the pan is hot, sear the roast on all sides, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Remove from the pan and place the roast in a large Dutch oven with a cover. Add the stock and juice.
Cover and place in the oven and cook for 2 hours for a 1.5 kg roast, or 3 hours for a 1.75 to 2 kg roast.
In a mixing bowl, toss the vegetables with olive oil.
Season with about 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss to combine.
Place the vegetables around the roast and cover. Cook for another 1 hour.
Remove the roast from the oven, cut off the strings and arrange on a serving platter, reserving the liquid.
Whisk the flour and water together. Pour the reserved liquid and grime into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Whisk the flour mixture into the reserved liquid. Bring the liquid back to a simmer and cook for 4 to 6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Ladle some of the gravy over the sliced pot roast, and serve the rest on the side.
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