California Dreamin'

I just returned from a vacation of self-indulgence.  I left my boys behind to go visit my sister-friend in Southern California.  It was a much needed vacation from reality - a respite to recharge.  I went with the intention of doing absolutely nothing & I believe I succeeded beyond my wildest dreams.  

Source | Author Screaloc | Date | Permission | other_versions- cc-by-3.0 Category:San Clemente, California.

We drove down to San Clemente to spend the night at their beach house where I did a whole lot more of nothing.  In the morning I cooked one thing - a half-hearted egg sandwich for her hubby while she ran off to do some work.  That was it. Nothing fancy - probably barely edible & without an ounce of enthusiasm.  All I wanted to do was nap & read.  I read all my favorites - Bon' Apetite, Cooking Light, & Food & Wine. Piles of articles on my favorite subject & boy did it ever get my brain fired up!  

Needless to say, after 5 days of no cooking, I couldn't take another minute of it.  As soon as I landed, I headed for the grocery store to pick up some yummies.  I ended up with a roast & veggies. While Arizona is nowhere near claiming fall is in the air, all the magazines have these delicious comfort foods on the cover so I was ready for a fall meal.  For me it was all about the chuck roast.  So here's my version of it. Give it plenty of time to cook! Rushing it will only render a chewy slab of meat. Cook it on a low temp & plan to wait a while to eat. 

Heidi's Roast Beast

5lb chuck roast

kosher salt & freshly ground pepper (remember the mortar & pestal)

olive oil

2 bulbs garlic

2 sweet onions

3 carrots

1lb of mushrooms

1 cup red wine

1 cup beef broth

fresh thyme

Preheat your oven to 300. Salt & pepper your beast & set it aside to come up to room temp while you prepare your veggies.

On a medium flame, place a large stainless steel skillet (because a large cast iron skillet is still on my dream list) & drizzle your olive oil around the pan. I love olive oil so I tend to use maybe 2-3 Tbsp. I don't really know because I've never once measured it. :)  While the oil is warming, peel & quarter your onions & put them in the skillet to caramelize.  Now's a good time to go ahead & get your garlic ready too.  I like to have the buttery deliciousness of roasted garlic so I just cut off the top & put the whole bulb in there. In hindsight, I wish I had done 3 bulbs instead of two.

I put my onions & garlic in both at the same time. Try to keep the onions together as best you can and brown them on the cut sides. This helps the caramelizing process & flavors the oil at the same time. Sprinkle just a touch of kosher salt in there too.

While the onions & garlic are doing their thing, get your mushrooms ready. I had baby bellas on hand so I just dusted them off, cut them in half  & tossed them in the skillet. 

Next, cut your carrots into large chunks. I like to cut mine on a bit of a diagonal to be able to get more surface area in contact with what will soon be deliciously flavored oil. 

Speaking of deliciously flavored oil, I found my new favorite store while I was in San Clemente. It's called Oliver's Olive Oil and Balsamic Tasting Gallery. OH. MY. GOODNESS.  I was only in the store a couple of minutes because we were waiting for a table at the restaurant next door.  But a couple of minutes was all it took to fall in love.  On my way out the door, Julie gave me a sample of her favorite balsamic - Fig Balsamic Vinegar - Italy.  Dreamy.  Absolutely dreamy.  I'm going to have to order it on line because I didn't make it back in time to buy any. I emailed them the next day to see if I could do so & what kind of Olive Oil was Julie's favorite since she was right on with the vinegar. So, I'll be ordering the Fig Balsamic & the Meyer Lemon Olive Oil - California. They also have an Olive Oil Club, plus in Nov & Dec they offer free shipping!  Mmmmm....I can't wait.  

So by now your onions/garlic are beautiful, but the mushrooms still need some time to get their juices flowing. Go ahead an plate your onions before they get too brown.

Let the mushrooms cook to until beautiful then add the carrots, browning them to perfection as well. 

After all your veggies are gorgeous brown & you've pulled them out of the skillet, it's time to sear the meat.

Turn the heat up on your skillet so when you get a nice sizzle out of it when you put the meat in. At this point, your meat's been sitting there for a half hour or so, coming up in temperature just a bit. This will help keep the temperature of the oil from dropping too much in the searing process. 

When the meat is seared nicely on each side, remove it and put it in a large pot. If you're lucky enough to have a cast iron Dutch Oven, you don't have to do this process. You'd be able to do all these steps in one pot.  For me though, I'm still dreaming of those days so here's what I do. I put it in a pot so it's hugged on all sides.

With all the goodness that's been happening in that skillet, it would be a shame for it all to go to waste. So keep the heat on that skillet and pour in the wine.

This will sputter a bit, but it will help get all those tasty little brown bits off the bottom of the skillet. I'm quite fond of them! LOL, pun intended.  "Fond" is French for bottom and the process is called deglazing.  I use a whisk to scrape it all up. Once this is done and the wine has cooked down a tad, I add the beef broth & toss in the thyme.

Now put your veggies on top of your meat and pour the juice over the whole thing. Put the lid on in and slide it into your oven.

In about 4 hours you'll have a roast to die for.  I served mine with mashed potatoes & steamed asparagus (which I left in a little longer than planned.)  Still, it was all delicious and my boys were happy to have me home again.  I was back!  Doing nothing is great and a much needed break. But feeding the ones I love is what I'm all about!  Enjoy!