Five Buck Chuck Week 1

My grocer offers a Saturday special they call Five Buck Chuck.  They sell two pounds of chuck roast for $4.99, and regardless of my food mood I find this deal irresistible.  I thought it might be fun to create something unique each week and post the results here.  If you have any ideas, feel free to contribute them here.

I prefer cooking my pot roast in a low and slow oven, with flavorful braising liquid that I strain later to make a reduction or gravy.  Yesterday afternoon we were headed to a movie so I opted for the Crockpot.  With my history of slow cooker issues, it did not surprise me that after 5 hours on low the meat was not yet broken down and was still quite chewy.  But T and I were hungry.  I shredded the beef into bite sizes while the onions, mushrooms, and thyme sautéd, then added the beef to the pan along with the braising stock and reduced, reduced, reduced.  Once the sour cream and parsley were added, we had a delicious and inexpensive Beef Stroganoff.

Beef Stroganoff

6 servings

2 pounds chuck roast, salted and peppered
2 cups chicken stock
Worcestershire sauce
Red wine
Parsley flakes
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 white onion, chopped
1 - 8 ounce package mushrooms, chopped
2-3 sprigs thyme
Balsamic vinegar
1 cup sour cream
Italian parsley for garnish

Combine stock, Worcestershire, a generous glug of wine, and parsley in pot or pan. Add meat (you do not need to sear the roast, but if you prefer this method dust the meat with flour and you will have a thicker sauce). Bake, covered, in a 300 degree oven about four hours or until roast is tender. Pour braising liquid into a grease strainer. While the roast rests about 20 minutes, prepare other ingredients.

Sauté onion and mushrooms in melted butter and olive oil in a large pan over medium heat until onions are translucent and mushrooms have released their liquid and are tender. Add thyme and strain de-greased braising liquid into pan. Add a tablespoon or two of balsamic vinegar and allow to reduce to half.

Tear apart pieces of the cooked beef and remove any inedible bits; add beef to reduction. Remove pan from heat and stir in sour cream.

Serve over egg noodles with lots of chopped parsley.