How to Make My Favorite Garlic Studded Pot Roast!

I do mine on the stovetop, and it is yummy. Enough said.

WARNING: Contains potentially bad food photography. But I think I did okay without photoshopping them. :D

Step 1: Tools!

- a dutch oven of some sort. I have this hot little Calphalon number, and it was cheap and has served me well.
- a large chef's knife for chopping the veggies and slicing the meat.
- a spatula. (makes an appearance later in the instructable.)
- an apron. (Iron Chef = bonus points.)
- a cutting board.

Step 2: Ingredients!

This is fairly long, so please bear with me. Not as scary as it looks!

- 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pounds of beef. Choose your favorite cut!
- 3 medium potatoes.
- 2 carrots.
- 2 stalks of celery.
- 1 onion, white or yellow, your preference.
- 1 head of garlic. (Or less, if you're not as fond of it as I am.)
- Flour, to cover.
- Tomato paste, to taste. This will also thicken the "sauce". I used about a 1/2 tbsp, concentrated.
- 2 cans fat free, no salt added beef broth.
- Salt to taste, and to season meat.
- Freshly ground black pepper, coarse, to season meat and sauce. (I love Tellicherry. You should try it, it's the best!)
- 1 tbsp or so of worcestershire sauce, to add "meatiness".
- olive oil, for flavor and browning the meat.
- 1 bay leaf.

And now, the special spice blend! I typically use about 1-2 tsp each of dried oregano, thyme, basil and rosemary. I think it gives it the best flavor. You can use more or less to taste.

Yay! Now get to business. Put your apron on!

Step 3: Trim Fat Off Meat, Insert Garlic, Flour & Season Meat.

Even when you buy the meat somewhere real fancy, they'll still leave big chunks of fat on. I don't care for it, as it turns rubbery and weird, so I cut it off. There's enough marbling that we won't miss this big blob of meat.

After you trim the excess fat, season the meat with salt and pepper on all sides. Now we're going to prepare the garlic so we can stuff the meat.

Smash the garlic with the side of your knife, and peel off the skins. Then, cut each clove in half or fourths. :)

I've including a video so you can see how to stuff the roast, but you basically just make a hole large enough for the garlic clove, push it in, and then push the meat back together with your fingers. This ensures us garlicky goodness all over the roast. :D (Ah jeez, the end of my video got cut off. Oh well! I was saying, "There you go!")



Now, flour the roast so that it is evenly coated all over. Brush off excess.

Now let's move on the the pan. Have you put your apron on yet? You're really going to need it. I'm not lying!

Step 4: Browning the Meat. :D

Add a bit of olive oil to a hot pan (You'll want to do medium heat, most likely.) and then add your meat. Depending on the moisture content of the meat, the oil might pop all over you, so be careful! (See, aprons are helpful!)

Now you'll want to brown the meat on all sides. If some of the garlic escapes, that's okay. Just be as careful as you can. :)

Step 5: While the Meat Is Browning, Prepare the Veggies!

Make sure you've washed your cutting board and knife, kids! You'll want to chop everything up in fairly large chunks because they'll be cooking for around three hours. :)

If you have any garlic left over, mince that and put it in with the rest of the veggies.

I forgot to take pictures of this, so use the next step's picture for reference. Whoops.

Step 6: Add Veggies, Spices, Tomato Paste, Broth, Worcestershire Sauce...

You can saute the veggies for a moment around the meat, but it isn't really necessary!

Mix everything together in the pot around the roast. You'll probably want to start out with only one can of broth. You can add more liquid later if needed!

Mix and bring everything to a boil, and then cover and drop to a simmer. And now you'll let it go for an hour until you turn the meat. I normally turn the meat 4 times during the cooking, so both sides get nice and tender. Make sure to keep it covered and don't let it come to a rolling boil. :)

I normally cook mine for about 3 hours. It's done when the meat is tender enough to shred when you poke it with a fork.

Step 7: Remove the Pot Roast to a Plate to Shred, and Boil the Sauce to Thicken If Necessary. :D

I normally put in too much liquid, so I tend to thicken the broth after I remove the meat. :)

I normally serve it by putting the broth in a bowl and topping it with some of the meat. I like to serve it with crusty bread too. Makes it fancy!

I hope you like it. :D