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Perfect Pot Roast By Marcelle Bienvenu A Boy Scout leader and avid sportsman, my father was an ace at one-pot meals cooked in one of his treasured cast-iron pots over a wood fire. The choices were endless — crawfish étouffée, chicken aux gros onions, grillades, round steak with onions and a version of pork jambalaya that I thought was outstanding, but it was my mother who really mastered the art of pot roasts. but a front-cut brisket, although leaner, is also a good choice for braising. Braising is a cooking method that requires well-seasoned (I use cayenne pepper,salt and garlic powder) meat to be pan-seared (to brown the meat, thus enhancing the appearance and flavor), then cooked long and slow with whatever vegetables you choose — onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes, celery and turnips are my choices.Then all is cooked for several hours in some kind of liquid — beef stock, wine, beer or a combination of all three — just know that the liquid must cover a little over half of the meat in the pot. Sometimes, I add a dab or two of tomato paste to give the braising liquid a rich color and flavor. Once you get everything in the pot and put a lid on it, you don’t have to do much tending to it, other than to occasionally check the level of the braising liquid and the tenderness of the meat. Coming from a farming family, she had learned at an early age how to turn a piece of meat cooked with whatever vegetables were available in the home garden into a splendid repast, especially on a cold winter day when the wind rattled the windows in the kitchen. Of course, this pot of goodness took the better part of an afternoon to make ready for supper, and the aroma that wafted from the kitchen all day long always made my mouth water and my tummy rumble. Like Papa,Mama had a collection of Lodge cast-iron pots. Lucky me — I inherited one of her favorites pots, and when cooler weather sets in, I pull it out from the pantry and set to my task. I like a chuck, rump or bottom-round roast Below is my pot roast recipe, but feel free to experiment with different cuts of beef, herbs and spices, and types of braising liquid. Serve it with Louisiana’s customary rice, or perhaps give some thought to grits or polenta.

Pot Roast Makes 6 to 8 servings WHAT YOU WILL NEED 1

front-cut brisket, about 3 pounds

2 cups dry red wine 1

tablespoon Creole or Cajun seasoning

1

tablespoon all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons olive oil 1 cup (or more as needed) beef stock/broth ¼ cup tomato paste 2 cups thinly sliced onions or 1 dozen boiler onions, blanched and peeled 1 cup coarsely chopped celery 3 medium-size carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces 6 garlic cloves, peeled 2 medium-size red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice 2 medium-size turnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice (optional) 2 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley HOW TO PREP Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the brisket in a large shallow bowl or heavy-duty plastic storage bag. Add the wine and mari- nate in the refrigerator for two hours. Remove the brisket from the wine and reserve the wine. Season the brisket with the Creole seasoning and dust evenly with the flour. Heat the oil in a large, heavy ovenproof pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the brisket evenly on all sides. Trans- fer the brisket to a platter. Add the reserved wine to the pot, stirring to loosen any brown bits (sometimes called fond, but I call them gremilles ) in the pot. Add the tomato paste and stir to blend. Return the brisket to the pot, and add enough beef broth or stock to cover the meat. Add the onions and cover. Put the pot in the oven and cook for 2 hours. Add the celery, carrots, garlic, potatoes and turnips (if using); re-cover and cook for about 45 minutes or until the vegetables are very tender. Remove the pot from the oven, adjust sea- soning if necessary and add the parsley. Al- low the meat to rest in the braising liquid for about 15 minutes before slicing to serve. Note to the reader: A chuck roast is cut from the shoulder and has marbling throughout. A rump roast is cut from the outside of the back leg. It also has re- ally nice marbling, and is slightly more tender. Both roasts are ideal for one-pot cooking.

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