Cowboy Pot Roast

No need to plan a dude ranch vacation to get a taste of good old country, cowboy cooking y'all.  I love my Cowgirl Cuisine cookbook, which is where I got this recipe and only tweaked it a bit to take some of the spice out for my boyfriend with the bland palate! This is a great dish to prepare when you are working outside all day, or you have no clue when your significant other will be home, which was the case when I made this. Sure I will be home for dinner...9:00 at night and after he already ate pizza while he was out... this dish was still amazingly delicious and tender.

What you need:

4 lb bone in chuck roast- I used a boneless roast and it worked just fine!
1 TBS salt plus another 1tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 TBS Cumin
2 TBS chopped Thyme
2 TBS chopped Rosemary
2 Large onions
1 head of garlic trimmed and peeled (15ish)
1-4 Serrano Chiles.. I used 2 and it was still too hot for J so I would go with 1 or none at all
2 cups beef broth
2 TBS instant espresso powder
1 tsp paprika
2 TBS Olive Oil
2 cups canned tomatoes with juice
1/2 cup whisky
2 fresh bay leaves- I used dried
1 lb carrots sliced to approx 4 inches
1 lb fingerling potatoes

Preheat oven to 325

Let meat sit out of the fridge for about an hour before cooking.

1. Combine the salt, pepper, cumin, thyme, and rosemary in a small bowl. Massage the mixture over the
    roast
2. While the meat comes to room temp, slice onion into 8 wedges, peel and crush garlic, slice serrano chiles
     from stem to the tip, keeping one side intact .
3. Whisk together beef broth, instant espresso powder and paprika until blended
4. Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven over med-high heat. When hot, add roast and brown each side until
    crusty and a deep brown on each side.
5. Remove meat, lower to medium and add onions, garlic and chiles. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring often
    until coated with beef fat and onions start to break down.
6. Add beef broth mixture, tomatoes, whiskey and bay leaes. Stir up any browned bits. Return roast to pan
    and nestle into the liquid.
7. Cover and place dutch oven in the oven. Roast for 1 hour, turn the roast and spoon liquid over the top.
     Return to the oven for another hour.
8. Add carrots and potatoes around the meat. Try to cover in as much juice as possible. And cook in the
    oven for the final hour.
9. Remove from oven and let sit uncovered for 30 minutes.
10. Remove bay leaves and serve.

I made buttermilk biscuits to go with this which was a great pairing and good for egg sandwiches the next morning!

Taken from: Cowgirl Cuisine