This was supposed to be my Valentines meal prepared by my hubby, Eddie. He managed the shopping but failed to read the recipe early enough – and didn’t realize it was a day-long crock pot affair. The next day we made it together. As Eddie was involved he insisted on using wine instead of water to deglaze the pan and his homemade veal stock instead of beef stock. I paired it with pasta for the teenager, but Eddie would have liked it better with potatoes.
I would have been happy just to dip crusty French bread in the balsamic sauce…
Balsamic and Onion Pot Roast
From Kalyn’s Kitchen:
3-4 pound boneless chuck roast
Seasoning Salt (We used regular salt)
Onion Powder (Didn’t have any but we had plenty of fresh onions in it we didn’t worry about it.)
Garlic Powder
black pepper to taste
1-2 T olive oil (depends on your pan)
1/4 cup water to deglaze pan (we used wine)
2-3 large onions, peeled and thickly sliced (two was enough)
1 cup beef stock, (we used veal stock) reduced to 1/2 cup (can use a can of beef broth, but be sure to reduce it)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup tomato sauce
Rub meat well with seasoning salt, onion powder, garlic powder and black pepper. Heat heavy pan with small amount of olive oil and brown roast well on both sides. This will take a few minutes; don’t rush the browning step.
While roast browns put 1 cup beef stock in saucepan, bring to a boil and cook until reduced to 1/2 cup, then let cool slightly and mix in balsamic vinegar and tomato sauce. Peel onions and cut into thick slices.
When the meat is brown on all sides, remove the meat and then deglaze pan with 1/4 cup water. Add the pan drippings to sauce mixture.
Place onions in bottom of slow cooker.
Put meat on top of onions and pour beef stock mixture over. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, until beef is tender.
The meat might be partly submerged in liquid after this much time.
Remove meat from slow cooker and cover with foil to keep warm. Drain liquid from Crockpot and remove as much of the fat as you can with fat separator or skimmer. Cook down liquid by about 1/3, and serve sauce with meat and onions.
