braised beef with red wine, onion brulee served on chive sweet potatoes

I love a good roast. Especially this time of year. Not to mention finding yet another opportunity to use sweet potatoes.

This was grass-fed chuck roast. I trimmed it of silver skin, then seared the outside until nice and brown. Note: see picture of spices in a jar? I tossed spices (see below) into a jar, then shook it up and smeared it on the steak. THEN I seared it.

STEAK SPICE in a Jar:
2 1/2 tablespoons smoked paprika
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne
1 tablespoon dried Oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme

After searing, set roast aside momentarily and saute (in same large pot) onions, celery, garlic and carrots. Once nicely caramelized I added 2-3 T of tomato paste and stirred/cooked it for 2-3 minutes until it ‘cooks’ and turns brown. Then I added 1/4 cup flour and let that cook for 2-3 minutes. Next up: red wine. I added 2/3 a bottle but you can fudge on amounts. That and almost a quart of homemade beef broth. Chicken stock is fine too.

I tossed in some whole peppercorns, a bay leaf and parsley stems. Oh and an onion brulee (see pic, below); its half an onion seared in a dry saute pan until black. It adds another layer of flavor plus an excuse to say ‘brulee’ /brew lay/ as if you were a french chef. A good day in the kitchen.

After the roast had been barely-simmering, covered for 4-5 hours, I removed the roast, strained the sauce and returned the [now very smooth] sauce/roast to the pan. THEN I added mushrooms; the roast simmered another 1-2 hours.

For the sweet potatoes I just baked them whole at 350 for 45 minutes or until they were done (wrinkly skin, pierced easily by fork). I smooshed them up, added some butter, a little sour cream/creme fraiche and chives, just ground salt and white pepper.

Huh. I have been going a little hog-wild when it comes to sweet potatoes. If you need ideas, look no further: risotto, sweet potato ginger mash, roasted sweet potatoes with blue cheese, sweet potato soup and sweet potato gnocchi.