We bought a 24.5-ounce jar of base for yankee pot roast ($17), a thick concoction of beef stock, three kinds of mushrooms, red wine, red wine vinegar, onion, celery, carrot, tomato paste, garlic, molasses, Worcestershire sauce and seasonings.
Following the directions on the back label (sort of), we browned a chuck roast in olive oil in a black-iron skillet, then placed the meat into a Le Creuset oval oven (a slow cooker or Dutch oven work as well). It was followed by the base, a bunch of fingerling potatoes, a handful of baby carrots, a couple of halved shallots, two stalks of chopped celery, a bay leaf and two garlic cloves. We put on the lid and turned the gas on low. The lifting of the lid a few hours later filled the house with aromatic scents and put appetites on high alert.
The base gave the beef a delicious, complexly layered depth of flavor, but the roast’s vinegary tang was more reminiscent of a German sauerbraten than the classic New England dish. Still, there were no complaints. Or leftovers.
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