Pot Roast and Potato-Fennel Gratin

With the economy the way it is and work being sparse, I wanted to make a hearty winter meal using a pretty economical section of beef, chuck roast.  Because it is muscly and tough people disregard it, but with a bit of slow cooking it easily becomes tender and flavorful. I bought mine at the Stoltzfus Meat Counter at the Ardmore Farmer’s Market.

I used Simply Recipes recipe for Pot Roast and loved how simple it was.  I seared the meat at about 5:30pm and by 9pm it was done!  I followed a suggestion I saw in the original recipe and piled two burner racks together on my gas stove to get the lowest possible simmering heat.  Needless to say, my white cast iron pot is now dyed maroon from the wine that cooked in it for 4 hours.

For the gratin, I found this recipe from the Barefoot Contessa.  It was (and the leftovers still are!) super decadent with that rich Gruyere cheese, but made for a great accompaniment to the roast.