My father loves a good pot roast, and over the past couple years I’ve been experimenting with various recipes, both from books and those I found on the net, but I’ve never found one that ‘wow’ed father or son.  So I decided to make my own recipe, and hot damn but it was delicious!  Forgot to take a pic.

Serves four.

1, 3-4 lb bottom round beef roast
1/4-1/3 cup olive oil
Flour (for dredging)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 yellow onions, sliced
3 stalks celery, cut into chunks
6 carrots (of the thinner variety)
2 green bell peppers
2 cups beef stock or broth
2 cups red wine, such as Burgundy (more as needed)
1 28-oz can of whole plum tomatoes, drained
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 tbsp room-temperature butter, plus more
2 tbsp flour

1.  Pat the roast dry with paper towels, and liberally coat all sides with salt and pepper.  Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes.  Dredge in flour, tapping off excess.

2.  Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot or Dutch oven, and sear the roast on all sides until well browned (about 3-5 minutes per side).  Remove roast to a platter.

3.  In the same pot, saute the onions for 3-5 minutes.  The burnt bits from the roast may make it look like the onions are burning, but dat’s okay.

4.  Return the roast to the pan, and add the remaining vegetables, beef stock, red wine, and tomatoes and herbs, and salt and pepper to taste.  Top off the roast with more wine so that it is mostly submerged in the liquid.

5.  Place the lid on the top, leaving a scant crack open, and simmer for 3 to 3 1/2 hours, turning the roast upside down once.  Check for doneness after 3 hours; if it’s falling apart when poked with a fork, the roast is done.  It shouldn’t need any more than 3 1/2, so even if you’re paranoid, take it out.  Let rest on a platter covered with foil.

6.  Remove the thyme and rosemary sprigs from the pot and with an immersion blender puree about 1/3-1/2 of the veggies.

7.  With a fork, mash together together 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp flour in a bowl until well-incorporated.  Use a ladle to transfer a scoopful of gravy into the bowl and whisk together with the butter-flour mixture until well-combined.  Whisk back into the gravy and cook over medium-low heat until the gravy thickens to the desired consistency.  For thicker gravy, you can always repeat the butter/flour mixture.  Check gravy for seasoning.

8.  Slice the beef and serve with the gravy and egg noodles.