Rot Post

Making pot roast this morning I had rot-post running through my head. Probably because of a rotten tooth which has been cleaned out — "Have you got all the necrotic tissue, doctor?" the dental assistant politely inquired — and while simultaneously thinking about rot and helping Will tune his guitar with a web tuner, I burned the oil in the beautiful Le Creuset pot, which is all you need to make pot roast.

There's the crux: the pot makes the roast. Winners/Homesense sells Le Creuset seconds from time to time (how I got mine, of course) which are pretty prime for seconds.

Bring a little peanut oil to swirling hot but not smoking, and brown a good piece of chuck roast on all sides, sitting the roast down and not moving it for a good three minutes to create that worthy brown crust, then shifting to another face for more. Don't walk away and tune a guitar while you're doing this. Once it's browned, set it down again flat on the pan bottom, and pour in a large can of crushed tomatoes and the last half of the bottle of red wine from the other night, and about a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. You might like more of that, but I go easy on it at first. Depending on the tomatoes, you might also wish to salt the sauce. Certainly add a good grinding of pepper. Toss in a big onion, roughly chopped, and a carrot and a piece of celery, both chopped, if you have room. You can also add those later when things have cooked down a bit.

Put the lid on, and either leave it on top of the stove to simmer or pop it into the oven at 275º for most of the afternoon. This is stew, really. But it's good, when the wind blows down the chimney flue.