Easy Hot Sauce Braised Pot Roast, Dutch Oven Recipe

This is the most flavorful pot roast! Perfect for anytime of the year, though I love it in the colder months.

Ingredients:

• Hot sauce recipe

14 jalapeños

2 green bell pepper

1 yellow onion

4 garlic cloves

3/4 c apple cider vinegar

3/4 - 1 c water

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp koser salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

• Pot roast ingredients

2-3 lb chuck pot roast

1 tbsp kosher salt

8 pearl onion

3 cloves garlic

1 sprig fresh oregano

3 whole carrots

1 sweet potato

2 c beef stock

2 c hot sauce from above recipe

Tools needed:

Sharp knife

Cutting board

Vegetable peeler

Dutch oven with lid

Measuring cups and spoons

Blender

Tongs

Fine mesh strainer

Baking sheet

Parchment paper

Mixing bowl

How to make it:

For best flavor, I like to dry brine the meat overnight. Generally speaking, 1/2 tsp salt per pound of meat is a good go to amount. To do this, dry the meat throughly with clean paper towel. Sprinkle the salt an all sides of the meat. Place on a sheet pan. Place into the refrigerator uncovered for about 8 hours. When you are ready to make the pot roast, remove the meat from the refrigerator and keep at room temperature while the sauce gets made. Having meat that is close to room temperature will help when the meat gets seared off. I want to get a nice browning on the meat with a light crust to it, maillard reaction of course. This is a great move for getting a lot of flavor out of the meat. Dry brining the meat seasons it all through.

Let’s make the hot sauce:

Preheat oven to 375 F

Wash peppers and dry with clean kitchen towel. Cut the peppers into large rough chop, discarding seeds if desired.

Cut the onion into large rough dice and leave garlic cloves whole with paper skin on.

Place all ingredients in a bowl. Add oil, salt and pepper. Toss ingredients to evenly coat. Place ingredients on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Put ingredients in the oven for about 40-45 minutes or until the ingredient are soft. Once cooled to the touch, remove garlic cloves from paper layer.

Place cooled ingredients in blender with the vinegar and water. Blend for about 1 minute to get a smooth sauce. I prefer a smoother hot sauce. To get a smoother sauce, strain through a fine mesh strainer. Use a small ladle or spoon to carefully force the sauce through the mesh. Of course, straining the sauce is optional. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning as needed. This is a very vinegar forward flavored sauce since it will be used to braise pot roast. The vinegar will help break down the proteins as it cooks while making it more tender.

To make the pot roast, start with halving the pearl onions, peeling and rough chopping the carrots, peeling and rough chopping the sweet potato and measure out the braising liquids (beef stock and the hot sauce).

Reduce heat on the oven to 300 degrees F

Mince the 3 garlic cloves.

Heat the dutch oven over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Pat the meat dry, add oil to the dutch oven and sear all sides of the meat. The meat doesn’t need to be seasoned since it has been dry brined. Searing the meat may take about 1-1/2 minutes per side. You want to get some color on the meat, get that maillard reaction. Once the meat is seared, remove from the pot and set aside on a plate. Turn heat down to low. Add the garlic with a pinch of salt and sweat for about 1 minute stirring frequently. The garlic will become fragrant.

Add the oregano, pearl onion, carrots and potatoes to the pot. Place the meat on top of the vegetables. Add the braising liquids. Turn up the heat to medium high to bring the liquid to a boil. Once boiling, turn off the heat and place lid on the dutch oven. I typically taste the braising liquid and adjust seasoning as needed. Though, I rarely have to adjust the seasoning. Place the pot roast into the oven and set a timer for 3 hours.

Around the 2-1/2 hour mark, I check on the doneness of the meat It should pull apart with some slight resistance. If it doesn’t pull apart easily, keep going and check again at the 3 hour mark.

Once meat is tender, remove the dutch oven from the oven and let stand for about 20 minutes.

Get out your favorite bowl and a slice of buttered sourdough. Get a few good ladles full of the pot roast with the sauce and vegetables and enjoy!

Logan