potatoes

Brown Ale Beer-Braised Pot Roast is an update to a classic dish by beer-braising the roast for several hours and finishing the veggies for an amazing meal!

I got a little lost, y’all.

The main reason that I started this ridiculous website was to share my love of home brewing, craft beer, and food.  Not necessarily in that order.  I don’t know where in tarnation my head went, but I got distracted and lost my focus.  I think sometimes we get caught up in what is trendy, or what everyone else is doing, or what we think should be rather than keeping true to who we are.  And, as usual, by we, I mean me.  Well, I’m focused and I’m back to doing what is in my heart. And that, my friends, is all things beer.

I started this website in August of 2014 with my very first post of a Vanilla Bean Bourbon Porter Peach Pie.  I made the beer that went into that pie.  The photos were crap and taken with a point and shoot, but I make no apologies.  Everyone has to start somewhere and I still remember the passion and excitement I felt when I made a pie with my own signature home brew.  And it was delicious.

I’ve also shared some of my home brewing fun over the last couple of years.  There was this competition where I unofficially came in second place with the above mentioned signature beer.  There was an informational post about the basics of home brewing and the annual Women’s Brew at NoDa Brewing Company.  And we can’t forget about the time Lisa ran her truck over my brew pot – presumably so she would beat me in said competition.  She didn’t. 🙂  In fairness, I will disclose that she did buy me a new one!  Some of these old photos didn’t survive the transfer from my original site to this one.  That’s both a blessing and a curse.

The point of all this is to say that I’m back to basics.  The basics of my passion, my fun, my purpose, and enthusiasm.  Home brewing, craft beer, good friends, and good food.  So I leave you with the basic of all basics.  The pot roast.  Braised in a brown ale.

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Brown Ale Beer-Braised Pot Roast

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 - 3 lb chuck roast
• 1 - 2 cups of flour
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 12 ounce can of brown ale - I used Sweet Josie Brown Ale from Lonerider here in North Carolina
• 2 onions peeled and quartered
• 12 carrots peeled, trimmed, and cut into 1 - 1 1/2 inch pieces
• 5 baking potatoes peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 275
2. Combine flour with a generous amount of salt and pepper in a bowl
3. Dredge roast in flour, salt, and pepper mixture covering both sides and shake off excess
4. Heat oil and butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat
5. Add roast and sear on all sides - about 4 - 5 minutes each side
6. Remove roast from pot and set aside on a plate
7. Remove pot from heat and turn off burner
8. Carefully add beer to the pot - it will splash and splatter
9. Add pot back to medium heat and scrape all the bits from the bottom of the pot
10. Return meat and any juices to the pot, cover with a tight lid, and transfer to the oven for 4 - 4 1/2 hours
11. Add vegetables to the pot and cook for another hour or until fork-tender

NOTES:

1. My Dutch oven from Lodge has a very tight fitting lid and I don’t lose much liquid.  If yours isn’t tight, you may want to check it periodically to make sure you still have liquid and add more beer or beef stock as needed.
2. You don’t want to put your vegetables in too soon or they’ll get weird and mushy
3. You don’t want your potatoes to be covered in the liquid or they’ll get weird and mealy
4. I am a complete weenie when it comes to fire, so I always turn it off when I’m adding booze so I don’t blow myself up.
5. I sometimes like my potatoes with sour cream and/or butter, but sometimes I like gravy.  If you want or need to thicken up the liquid for some beer gravy, just mix together 1/3 cup with 3 tablespoons of corn starch, bring the liquid to a boil and slowly stir in the cornstarch about 1 tablespoon at a time until it’s the thickness desired.