Winter Pot Roast

It has been ridiculously cold this winter here in Texas and across the south. So I have craved a hearty winter pot roast.  This was great on a Sunday evening and easy.  Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

• 2 tablespoons ghee divided
• 4 pounds Chuck Roast
• 6 leeks, whites only, thinly sliced
• 4 celery stalks, cut into ¼ inch chunks
• 2 pounds of carrots, peeled, and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
• ¼ cup organic beef stock
• ½ cup balsamic vinegar
• 20 ounces of sliced mushrooms
• Kosher salt
• Pepper

Note you can either use a crockpot or Dutch oven for this recipe

Melt 1 tbs. of the ghee over high in the Dutch oven or a heavy-bottomed skillet if using the crock-pot.  Sear off the roast on all sides in the ghee.  Once it's seared remove to the side.  In the same pan reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining ghee, leeks, celery, carrots, and sauté until soft.  Add the tomato paste and garlic sautéing for an additional minute or two.

Deglaze the vegetables with the balsamic vinegar making sure to scrape up the little bits that have stuck to the pan.  Transfer the vegetables to crock pot, nest the roast into the vegetable and pour the mushrooms, stock, the beef.  Roast on low for 4-5 hours.  When the roast is fork tender remove it and the vegetables and tent foil over.  Note you can try this, but I don’t recommend it unless you are using the Dutch oven.  Using oven mitts, you can transfer the liquid back to the original pan and reduce the liquid down to a thick consistency to pour over the meat like gravy.