Pot Roast

Yesterday was the Monday of a long weekend. I decided to take advantage of all my free time by making a pot roast. The pot roast itself doesn't take a lot to put together, but it has a lengthy cooking time (roughly 4 hours). This is a recipe from my head, so the ingredient amounts are all an approximation.

Rebekah's Pot Roast
serves 4 (with leftover meat)

Ingredients:
For roast and gravy
1 sirloin roast. I don't know what the weight of mine was, but it was about $15
salt and pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, halved and sliced thinly
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 4-6 long pieces, depending on the size of carrots
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1/2 cup red wine
2 cups or so beef stock (reduced sodium)
3 rosemary sprigs, left whole
1 rosemary sprig, minced
2 tbsp horseradish
sprinkle of Montreal steak spice

For potatoes:
4 large baker's potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
3 tbsp heavy cream
2 tbsp horseradish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F
1) Heat the oil in a Dutch oven that is large enough to hold the roast. Season the roast with salt and pepper, and cover with flour, you will not need the entire 1/4 cup of flour for this, just use what you need and set the rest aside.
2) Brown the roast on all sides. This should take a couple minutes on each side. You are looking for a dark golden color, that gives the appearance of a crust on the meat. Meanwhile mix together the horseradish, minced rosemary and Montreal steak spice. (The steak spice isn't necessary, salt and pepper will work if you don't have it. Also a tbsp of Dijon mustard would work really nicely in this, but I didn't think about it until too late)
3) Remove the meat, and add the onion. Saute for about a minute, add the carrots, saute a minute more and add the garlic. Add the bay leaves, rosemary sprigs and the wine, scraping the bottom to loosen the brown bits. Place the roast back in and pour in enough beef stock for it to come halfway up the roast. Top the roast with the horseradish mixture. Cover the roast and cook for 3.5 - 4 hours, depending on the size.
4) About 10 minutes before the roast is done, start boiling the potatoes in salted water. When the roast is finished, remove it from the Dutch oven, tent with foil and set aside to rest. Use a slotted spoon to remove the carrots and most of the onion, place them in a oven safe bowl, tent with foil and set in the oven to keep warm. (The oven can be set to its lowest setting, or even off for that)
5) Place the Dutch oven on the stove, set burner for medium-high. Add another splash of red wine, and another half cup of beef stock. Take roughly a tbsp from the reserved flour and stir it into a cup with a bit of water or stock, add to the gravy. Bring to a boil, boil for a couple minutes. Remove from heat, and remove the bay leaves and rosemary sprigs.
6) When the potatoes are fork tender, drain and place back in the pot. Add the horseradish and cream (I used cream because I had it on hand, butter or margarine would work too), and mash.
7) Take the foil off the meat, and slice against the grain.

I'm hoping these directions make sense. I was adding ingredients as they came into my head, with what I had on hand. It looks like a lot of steps, but really it came together quickly to start off with, and it wasn't very complicated at the end either.
Overall, if you like horseradish you will like this roast. I can't get enough of it, myself.