Recipe: Steve's Pot Roast:

Steve's Pot Roast
rec.food.cooking/Steve Clingerman/1996

I think that a shoulder cut makes the best, but I mostly use a chuck roast.

A fairly large chunk of shoulder or a good size chuck roast - maybe 3-5 lbs.
2 tbsp olive oil
1 bottle dry red wine (I use what's on sale for about $4 or $5)
1 tbsp dry tarragon or 2 tbsp of freshly chopped
2-3 whole garlic cloves
2 white onions peeled and cut into 1/8ths or
8-10 small boiling onions, peeled, whole
4-5 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
6-7 small red potatoes, washed and quartered skin on
2 decent sized leeks, washed and sliced into 1/2-inch pieces (I use all but the toughest green part)
a box of brown mushrooms, whole, trimmed
2-3 celery stalks, cut into 1" pieces

Take the time to trim as much fat off the meat as you can (I know, fat is supposed to help with tenderness, but this meat will be *very* tender anyway, so why not get rid of as much fat as you can?).

In a large pot (I use my stock pot) on high heat, brown the meat on all sides using the olive oil. Dump in the bottle of red wine and add the tarragon and garlic cloves. Add enough water to cover the meat by about 1/2-inch. Bring back to a boil. Turn down the heat to a constant simmer and let it simmer until the meat is *really* fork tender. It should take about 1 1/2 hrs, but check it occasionally. The meat should almost be falling apart. After that, remove the meat from the pot and strain the liquid to get rid of the garlic and tarragon.

At this point I usually further de-fat the liquid with one of those gravy strainers. Put all the liquid back into the pot with the veggies. Cook the veggies until they're *almost* done (30-40 mins?) then return the roast to the pot just to heat it up. Serve.

It's so good, you may have to lay down to eat it!