Chuck roast is a great cut of beef for feeding a larger group on a smaller budget. You can generally get a 3-4 lb roast for around $15 and it would feed 4-6 people. This is a good cold weather cut of beef. The braising makes the meat fall apart and the fat throughout adds a bunch of flavor to this dish. Chuck roast can be cooked in so many different ways. Another favorite of mine is the Mississippi Pot Roast. Look it up if you haven't tried it before. This is just one yummy kind of classic way to enjoy it.
Braised chuck roast is a wonderful recipe to try in your electric pressure cooker as well. You can brown the meat right in the pressure cooker, then once you follow the rest of the steps, put the cooker on manual and set it for 45 minutes. Once it is done cooking let the pressure release naturally. If you use the quick release it could cause the meat to toughen up a little. You can also still thicken the gravy at the end. Just pull out the chuck roast, then put the pressure cooker on saute and go through the thickening steps. Ingredients
3-4 lb Chuck Roast Cumin Paprika
1 Onion sliced 1 can Stewed Tomatoes 1 cup Red Wine 1 cup Water 1 Onion Soup mix package 4 cloves of Garlic minced Cornstarch (optional) Olive Oil Salt Pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Coat the bottom of a Dutch oven with olive oil and place over high heat. Cover the roast with cumin, paprika, salt and pepper.
Brown both sides of the roast in the Dutch oven. This will be about 2 min on each side.
Remove from dutch oven and add the onion and season with salt. Saute for about 5 minutes. Then add the garlic for about 1 minute.
Next add the wine and let the alcohol cook out for a minute.
Now put in the tomatoes, water, and soup mix in the pan. Put the roast back in with the sauce, cover the pot and place in the over for about 2 hours or until meat is tender enough to pull apart.
If you don’t have a Dutch oven you can brown on the stove and place in a roasting pan. You may need to use less liquid if you do this though as those pans are not designed for the same cooking method. You can also use a Crockpot or braise it on the stove top, although cooking times may vary.
When roast is done cooking let sit for at least five mins before pulling apart. If you want to use the sauce as gravy you can boil it on the stove to let the flavors condense. You can also thicken it with cornstarch if you choose. To do this add about 1 Tbsp of corn starch to a little water to create a water paste, then whisk into the gravy. By doing this you will avoid the cornstarch clumping up in the gravy.
Carve or tear apart the roast into small pieces against the grain and serve with the gravy.