The dependable comforts of home: Pot Roast with Mustard

White wine and two French mustards give this meaty roast a surprisingly light finish. Recipe below.

OUR FRIEND RONNIE ANN SAYS POT ROASTS ARE “LIKE A WARM HUG FROM HOME.” We agree. So when we found chuck roast on sale recently, we snatched one right up. And looking for something new to do with a pot roast, we thought of one of the oldest culinary tricks up our sleeve: add mustard. Two mustards, actually.

Before you start thinking ballpark hot dogs, we’re talking about the much more subtle thing that mustard can do so well—adding a nice, very slightly tangy quality that reads more as brightness to a hearty or rich dish. French cooks are particularly good at this, so we turned to French mustards for our pot roast: Dijon and old style whole grain.

Besides the usual suspects for pot roast—onion, garlic, carrots, potatoes—I snagged some mushrooms Marion had gotten to make another batch of her delicious Mushroom Potato Caraway Soup. (I did ask before grabbing them, and more mushrooms will be gotten for the soup.) The roast was delicious—predictably hearty, but with a lightness thanks to the mustards and white wine. The mushrooms added an earthy umami. It didn’t break culinary ground, but that wasn’t the intent. Instead, it was indeed a warm hug from home.

Print Pin

Pot Roast with Mustard

White wine and two French mustards give this meaty roast a surprisingly light finish.

Servings 4 with leftovers

Ingredients

• beef chuck roast, 2-1/2 to 3-pounds, 2 inches thick or thicker
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 cup reduced sodium beef or chicken broth (plus more, if needed—see Kitchen Notes)
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1-1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks (see Kitchen Notes)
• 3 good-sized carrots, peeled and cut into largish chunks
• 8 ounces button mushrooms, cleaned and cut into thick slices

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 300ºF. Season roast generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat a lidded Dutch oven or heavy pot large enough to hold the roast over medium-high heat, adding enough oil to coat the bottom. Brown the roast on both sides about 4 minutes. When you turn the roast, reduce heat to medium.
• Transfer roast to a plate and add onion to the Dutch oven, drizzling in more oil, if needed. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 or so minutes, until it’s beginning to soften. Be careful not to brown it. Add garlic and rosemary to the Dutch oven and cook, stirring constantly, for 45 seconds or so.
• Add broth, wine and mustard to the Dutch oven, stirring to combine everything and scraping up any browned bits. Return the roast to the Dutch oven—the liquid should come about halfway up the sides of the roast.
• Cover Dutch oven with the lid and put it in the oven. Roast for about 2 hours, turning the roast over in the last 1/2 hour.
• Turn the roast over again. Increase the oven temperature to 350ºF. Add potatoes, carrots and mushrooms to the Dutch oven, arranging them around the sides of the roast. Add a little more liquid, if needed, but the vegetables don’t need to be submerged.
• Cover the Dutch oven and return it to the oven. Roast for another 1-1/2 hours. The meat and vegetables should be completely tender. Transfer the roast to a platter and serve with the vegetables.

Kitchen Notes

More liquid? Depending on how tightly your Dutch oven’s lid fits, some liquid may evaporate. If you need to add more liquid, you can use more broth, water or wine—we did a mix of water and wine.

Pick your potatoes. Yukon Golds work well for this. You can also use Russets or reds. Some recipes call for baby potatoes; if you use those, no need to peel—just halve them if they seem too large, but you do want chunks of potatoes.

Liz’s Crockery Corner. Interestingly enough, we wrote about this 1880s platter when we made another pot roast. You can find the platter’s story—and another meaty recipe—here.