Chuck Roast with Root Vegetables and Oyster Sauce Gravy

Chuck Roast with Root Vegetables and Oyster Sauce Gravy was a PERFECT meal for a cold winter night. The meat just is so moist and falls off of the bone. I was in heaven. I hope we make it again soon. Retro cooking at its best. The Oyster Sauce adds a layer of Unami that enhances the experience. Make this one and be transported back to your childhood, only this will be better than what your mother made!

We started with a Caesar Salad.

Chuck Roast with Root Vegetables and Oyster Sauce Gravy

The Global Pantry Cookbook

 

TOTAL TIME: 4 hours 15 minutes

SERVES 6

 

From the moment the meat starts to brown on the stove, the kitchen fills with beefy aromas. The oyster sauce in the braising liquid kicks the effect up tenfold as the dish develops in the oven. The meat collapses into tenderness, the sauce melds into the stewy richness. This is perfect, simple, cool- and cold-weather comfort.

 

INGREDIENTS

2       teaspoons kosher salt

1½    teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1       boneless chuck roast (3 pounds)

2       tablespoons olive oil or canola oil

1½    cups unsalted beef stock

¼      cup oyster sauce

4       thyme sprigs

2       bay leaves

2       large onions, halved vertically and cut vertically into thick slices

6       cloves garlic, minced

1½    pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled and cut into 2-inch chunks or wedges

1½    pounds turnips, cut into 2-inch chunks or wedges

1½    pounds carrots, cut into 2-inch-long pieces (any really thick pieces halved lengthwise)

 

PROCEDURE

1.            Preheat the oven to 325°F with the rack placed in the center.

2.            Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sprinkle ¾ teaspoon of salt ½ teaspoon of pepper over the top of the roast; sprinkle the bottom with ¾ teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of pepper. Add the oil to the pan and swirl to coal. Add the roast to the pan; cook until well browned on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Turn the roast over and cook until well browned, about 5 minutes.

3.            Stir together the stock and oyster sauce in a 2-cup measuring cup. Pour the mixture over the browned roast in the Dutch oven, and tuck the thyme sprigs and bay leaves into the liquid. Scatter the onions and garlic over the roast. Continue to cook over medium-high heat until the liquid boils, 15 seconds to 1 minute, then cover the pot and place in the oven. Braise for 2 hours 45 minutes.

4.            Remove the pot from the oven, uncover, and top the roast with the potatoes, turnips, and carrots. Cover the pot, return to the oven, and cook until the vegetables are tender when pierced with a knife, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes.

5.            Using long tongs, remove the roast to a large platter. This is a little tricky, and the roast will likely fall apart, but you'll need it in pieces to serve it anyway. Gently stir the vegetables into the cooking liquid; discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Sprinkle the remaining vegetables with the remaining½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper; toss again gently to combine Arrange the vegetables on the platter with the roast, or return the roast to the pot with the vegetables and serve.

 

AVOID THIS MISTAKE

No More Mushy Vegetables. If you're resigned to soggy stews, the result here is a revelation. Meat of the chuck variety takes much longer than vegetables to tenderize, 30 we give it a head start. The vegetables are added only in the last hour or so.