Pot Roast (Paleo)

1 whole (4 To 5 Pounds) Chuck Roast

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 whole Onions

8 whole Carrots

Salt To Taste

Pepper To Taste

1 cup Beef Stock for deglazing (or red wine)

2 cups To 3 Cups Beef Stock

3 sprigs Fresh Thyme, or 2 tsp dried rosemary

3 sprigs Fresh Rosemary, 2 tsp dried rosemary

4 large white flesh sweet potatoes (to make mashed potatoes out of. Don’t put these in your pot roast)

Generously salt and pepper your chuck roast.  Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Then add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil (or you can do a butter/olive oil split).

Cut two onions in half and cut 8 carrots into 2-inch slices (you can peel them, but you don’t have to). When the oil in the pot is very hot (but not smoking), add in the halved onions, browning them on one side and then the other. Remove the onions to a plate.

Throw the carrots into the same very hot pan and toss them around a bit until slightly browned, about a minute or so.

If needed, add a bit more olive oil to the very hot pan. Place the meat in the pan and sear it for about a minute on all sides until it is nice and brown all over. Remove the roast to a plate.

With the burner still on high, use about 1 cup beef broth (or red wine) to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom with a whisk to get all of that wonderful flavor up.

When the bottom of the pan is sufficiently deglazed, place the roast back into the pan and add enough beef stock to cover the meat halfway (about 2 to 3 cups). Add in the onion and the carrots, as well as 1 tsp coarse salt, ½ tsp black pepper, 2 tsp dried thyme and 2 tsp dried rosemary. 

Put the lid on, then roast in a 275F oven for 3 hours (for a 3-pound roast). For a 4 to 5-pound roast, plan on 4 hours.  Serve the meat, vegetables, and gravy over mashed sweet potatoes.  Delicious!

Serve over mashed sweet potatoes.  (The white flesh sweet potatoes, not orange yams.)  Chop sweet potatoes up into 1-inch chunks.  Place in a large pot of salted water.  Bring to a boil and simmer 25 minutes, until potatoes are very tender.  Drain and return potatoes to hot pot.  Add 2 tablespoons butter, salt and pepper to taste, and mash until creamy.  

Serves 10