This is one of our favorite Sunday dinners. I get everything going, pop it into the oven and head off to church to pray for the mister's soul...somebody has got to do it! When I get home and pull into the garage, as I open the car door I can smell the goodness...and walking into the house, being kissed by the wafting aroma almost makes up for sitting in church for THREE hours! (I don't know why they can't say what they need to say in half that time...especially if it's sunny out!) Here's what you need to know - this dish is super easy, you can get it prepped in your Sunday clothes and high heels and still be in the pew on time. The magic happens while you're singin' and swayin', in the three hours you're gone...so if you go to a drive-thru church, keep drivin' until you've been gone for three hours.
This is what the top 1% eat...it's what the mister calls rich people food...because after eating this obscenely decadent and rich meal, the ensuing heart attack that it might induce, along with all of the machines in the ER that will be necessary to save one's life, can only be afforded by rich people. After he scarfs up his dinner he does his imitation of Fred Sanford, clutching his heart and staggering around the kitchen...It's the big one Elizabeth...I'm coming home!
So this dish comes with a warning: Do not stand over the pan and eat the sauce with a spoon. Do not serve this dish in a soup bowl with a spoon or a straw. The sauce is supposed to be an accompaniment to the beef...even though it will be the best thing you've ever tasted. Blue cheese crumbles, heavy cream, salt and pepper...a delicious elixir that will have you licking your plate as you beg for more. But the beef...in all of it's braised beauty, can stand alone. It's that good. With the sauce, it's mind-blasting (ten times better than mind-blowing.) Trust me.
Braised Beef with Blue Cheese Cream - Pots and Pins
3 lb. boneless chuck pot roast
1/2 cup Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing and Marinade (This is always my marinade of choice - dang good!)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 container (32 oz.) beef broth or stock
1 cup red wine
Blue Cheese Sauce:
1 container (5 oz.) Blue cheese crumbles
1 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
Thirty minutes before, remove roast from refrigerator and put in a rimmed baking dish and pour Kraft dressing on top. Turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit on counter. In a Dutch oven or a similar stove top/oven proof pan with a tight fitting lid, heat butter and olive oil over medium-high heat. After roast has been in marinade for 30 minutes (or longer if you have time, up to overnight even) remove roast and put in hot butter/oil. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Discard marinade. Sear roast on all sides. Remove from heat. Pour beef broth and red wine over top of roast and mix with a wooden spoon. Cover with lid and put in oven, bake for three hours. Remove from oven, remove roast from pan and let rest on a platter, covered with foil. (Save the juices in the pan for another use, like the base of a beef soup or stew. You can even freeze it.)
Make Blue Cheese Sauce: In a small saucepan over medium-heat, bring cream almost to a boil. Reduce heat to low and slowly stir in blue cheese crumbles until they melt. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
To serve: Pour some of the blue cheese sauce over roast, pass the remaining sauce as you eat. Serves 5 to 6.