Work has been crazed in advance of the holidays so I haven't been able to hang out here as much as I like to. Nonetheless, I wanted to post this before I forgot how I did it. Nothing fancy, just another example of how wine and tomatoes when cooked together produces something greater than either alone. Used the extra sauce over pasta a couple of days later. Really delicious comforting winter food. How can it be bad? It has all of my favorite food groups: wine, tomatoes, mushrooms...Served with homemade olive bread and my last Unti Barbera.
Pot Roast
1 onion - diced
6 peeled and smashed cloves garlic (more or less depending on what you
like)
Olive Oil
2 cups red wine - divided
1 quart canned tomatoes - thanks Joy!!*
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 1/2 - 3 lb pot roast (chuck roast - whatever)
flour
salt and pepper
1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
3 cups boiling water
Add the boiling water to the dried porcini mushrooms and let them sit for
1/2 hour or so to reconstitute.
In a frying pan, heat a couple of tablespoons of good olive oil and cook
the onions until they are soft, around 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook
until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add the thyme and basil and cook for a
2 or three minutes until the kitchen smells really great.. Set the
onions/herbs/garlic aside.
Salt and pepper the meat. Then coat with flour. In a large heavy pot or
dutch oven, heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil, then brown the meat.
(2-3 minutes on a side should do it.) Remove the meat to a platter and
deglaze the pot with 1 cup of red wine. Scrape up all the brown bits off
the bottom of the pot, then cook the wine down so it is just a couple of
tablespoons worth.
Drain the mushrooms, keeping the liquid. Strain the liquid to remove any
debris, then add it to the reduced wine. Add the tomatoes, the other cup
of red wine, onions, garlic, herbs and bring to a boil. Chop the mushrooms
and throw them in. Add the meat with any juices that it gave off. Bring
heat down to a simmer and cover for around 3 hours. If you like a thicker
gravy just take the top off after 3 hours and simmer for another 1/2 hour-
1hour.
Check for salt and pepper before serving and adjust. This is, of course,
better if re-heated and served the next day but it's awfully good the first
day.
*Joy is a co-worker whose mother has 40 or 50 tomato plants. I received and canned nearly 35 lbs of tomatoes in the fall. Only 2 jars left!!