chuck pot roast

had a piece of chuck tender in the freezer for couple months. about 600g+ and cost S$8+ for giant.

i had a few attempts at slow roast previously which were not that great. revisited some internet recipes and found a few crockpot recipes including this one=melt in your mouth chuck roast & decided to try it.

chuck pot roast

as chuck could be quite tough despite slow-cooking & i decided not to use bicarbonate tenderiser this time, i tried red wine vinegar + dijorn mustard instead. not exactly sure if it worked much, but anyway i only did for about 3hrs. will try overnight or 24hrs next time.

i added 1 tablespoon wine vinegar & 1 tablespoon dijorn mustard to the 600g+ chuck tender (after cleaning & removing some fat & surface connective tissues) & marinated in a ziplog bag, pressing out the air before sealing.

before cooking, i brought to room temperature, seasoned with sea salt & coarse black pepper & then charred on all sides over 2 tablespoon butter in a non-stick frypan over high heat. this produced the brown ring & maillard reaction which made the roast flavourful. i then placed the chuck roast in a crockpot.

to make the vegetable ratatouille sauce, i fryed 2 chopped shallots, 3 cloves minced garlic in 2 tablespoon olive oil in the frypan over medium heat, & added 1 yellow onion diced, 1 large carrot diced,1 large potato diced, 1 stalk of leek diced (didn’t have tomatoes) & added the sauce mix & cooked for 10mins on medium low heat, adding water where required.

i then emptied the content into the crockpot. it should cover fully the chuck roast. i stuck in a meat thermometer set to 145degF (for medium rare) to the middle, thickest part of the roast & covered & turned crockpot to low. for the 600g+ roast, it took only 1hr 15mins before the meat thermometer alarm alerted.

now i understood why the crockpot recipe. like slow oven roast, it is often necessary to keep the meat moist to retain the juices and avoid drying out. so for my miso belly pork, i had it covered by miso marinade while slow-cooking at 90degC in the oven before broiling to create the seared surface. here i browned the meat first then placed the roast in a bath of vegetable ratatouille for an excellent tasty sauce, and that helped produce a tender, moist chuck roast.

my daughter & i carved & ate about 1/2 the roast with ratatouille sauce the first evening &. over 2 days, i carved & ate the other 1/2 with my daughter w/o the sauce, just adding some sea salt on both sides. even eating for the 3rd time after 2 days in a tin foil in the fridge, the meat was moist, tender & tasty. it would certainly do well also as a roast beef salad or roast beef sandwich. 🙂

c.h.e.f. andy

Ingredients:

• 600g+ chuck tender
• 2 shallots chopped
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 yellow onion diced
• 1 large carrot diced
• 1 large potato diced
• 1 stalk celery or leek sliced
• 1 large tomato cut to 8 slices

Sauce Mix

• 1 tbsp worchester sauce
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 4 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp corn flour

Directions:

1. prepare & tenderise meat – cleaning & remove fat & surface connective tissues. add 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar & 1 tablespoon dijorn mustard to chuck tender  & marinated in a ziplog bag, pressing out the air before sealing.
2. cook vegetable ratatouille sauce – fry 2 chopped shallots, 3 cloves minced garlic in 2 tablespoon olive oil in the frypan over medium heat. add 1 yellow onion diced, 1 large carrot diced,1 large potato diced, 1 stalk of leek diced. add the sauce mix & cook for 10mins on medium low heat, adding water where required. set aside.
3. cook the pot roast –  bring meat to room temperature, season with sea salt & coarse black pepper, charred on all sides over 2 tablespoon butter in a non-stick frypan over high heat. this produces the brown ring & maillard reaction which makes the roast flavourful. place the chuck roast in a crockpot.  empty the frypan content (vegetable ratatouille sauce) into the crockpot, and cover the chuck roast fully. stick a meat thermometer set to 145degF (for medium rare) to the middle, thickest part of the roast, cover & turn crockpot to low. for the 600g+ roast, it should take only 1hr 15mins before the meat thermometer alarm.