Wining and Dining

First off, this lovely picture is thanks to Liza, who took control of the camera I was too lazy to do anything with. Second, my first attempt at making pot roast was pretty great, and with a few minor improvements I think it could be even more delicious (e.g. correctly estimate how much time it will take to cook so it ends up medium instead of well done; don't completely forget to add the vegetables to the stock, etc.) And of course, having people over to eat with me made it all the better.

I'm only giving the recipe for the roast, but we also had tiny potatoes roasted until crispy, a salad with mum's birthday vinaigrette (tasty!) and some roasted vegetables that Tannis brought, which included carrots, onion, sweet potatoes and apple. Plus a blueberry pie, which was inhaled too quickly to photograph, and a few bottles of wine.

All in all, quite a successful dinner party!





Boeuf à la Mode
Put in a deep bowl:
1 beef pot roast
Pour over the meat:
Red Wine Marinade (below)
Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Drain the meat and pat dry (I reserved one cup of the marinade and added it to the stock later). Heat in a Dutch oven over medium high heat:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Brown the meat on all sides. Pour off excess oil. Add:
5 cups beef stock or broth (I used 4 cups plus the marinade)
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until tender, 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Towards the last hour degrease the simmering liquid and add:
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup sliced onions
Cut the roast into thin slices and serve with the cooking liquid

Red Wine Marinade
Combine in a medium saucepan and simmer over low heat for 2 minutes:
2 cups dry red wine
1 small red onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 sprigs parsley
2 sprigs thyme
6 whole black peppercorns, cracked
1 bay leaf
2 whole cloves
Remove from heat and season to taste with salt. Let cool before using.