Brasato

I made this delicious pot roast at my Mom and Dad's for them, my daughter, son in law, hubby and a cousin. It was a big hit. My cousin especially loved it. It turned out with a wonderful flavor and very tender.

I couldn't find a celery root in our local market so I used some celery instead. I know not the same but the closest thing I could think of.

I forgot to get some kitchen twine so I just omitted that step. I'm sure the roast would have held together better using the twine but I had no complaints.

For the wine I choose one of the suggested ones Cabernet Sauvignon. It gave the meat a great flavor along with some store bought beef stock.

I choose the method of pan browning before starting the braising process. There are a few steps before getting the roast into the oven but once it's in there you can sit back and enjoy the heavenly smells filling your kitchen.

I didn't need the optional sugar and didn't add the optional balsamic vinegar. I had some problems pushing the veggies through a mesh strainer so I pulsed them in a food processor first. I liked using them to thicken up the sauce. My husband who usually won't touch a cooked carrot enjoyed the sauce even on his potatoes. Sneaky way to get some veggies in those picky eaters.

This pot roast was a very involved recipe. I gave the meat one day with the salt rub, I'm sure 2 extra days would have been better. I also used a Cabernet for the wine. Cooking down a full bottle to 0.5 cups is a long process, and consequently the wine was added late. I used zuni cafe chicken stock (home made).

I didn't think this recipe called for enough vegetables, so I tripled the number. For some reason, after 4 hours, my celery root was still really tough. But the sauce was amazing. Like southerncooker, I didn't need to add any sugar, basalmic vinegar, or additional stock.

Not very pretty, but very good.