Chapter The First - Pot Roast, Friends and the Perils of Gravity

It was last Thursday when an unlikely alignment of food, wine and schedules coalesced in my apartment. I had invited T. , K. and D. for dinner that day. The deal was that I had a bunch of stuff I needed to use up in my fridge and I wanted to share it. I decided to shove it all in a pot, stick it in the oven and put the results on noodles. We'd have some beers, eat the food, maybe play some video games. Nothing to write home about, really.

Like my dad says, though, it's better to be lucky than good. What originated as basically stone soup ended up being one of the best things I'd ever made. Ser'sly, y'all, this was the shiznit, the illmatic chronze. It was all homey and comforting, also sophisticated at the same time. This will make a great Sunday dinner as the weather turns colder. It's not a quick meal, but it is easy and the results are so far beyond what you think it's going to be, that by serving this, you will be worshiped as a god. The entire cost of this meal, including the wine needed will be about 30 bucks. If you wanted a vegetable with it, I'd do a dark leafy green, like kale or broccoli rabe.

• 1 4-5 lb chuck roast (I got mine at Safeway, on sale for about 4 bucks. This is a cheap tough piece of meat that requires slow cooking)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• About 2 cups of beef stock
• Half a bottle of Barbaresco (I really and truly believe that a large portion of my good fortune with this meal comes from using this earthy wine, not often found in recipes. It'll run you about 10 bucks a Trader Joe's)
• 1/2 a shallot, minced
  
• 1 lb fresh pearl onions, peeled but whole
  
• 1/2 lb shiitake mushrooms, rough chop
• Fresh thyme
• Fresh parsley (Flatleaf! Always flatleaf!)
• 1 lb papardelle

1. Pre-heat your oven to 300 - 325 (depending on your oven's particular hot-itude). If you can, take the meat out early and let it get to room temp. Salt and pepper it. In a large pot or dutch oven or whatever, heat up some olive oil, about 2 tblspns, over medium heat. You do not need to get this supah hot. Brown the roast on all sides. Take your time with it. Get it all nice and brown and caramelized. This should take about 10 minutes. Remove it from the pot and put it aside.
   
2. Add your shallots and pearl onions to the pot. Turn the heat up a bit and brown them. Again, you're looking for that nice brown-not-black color. About 5 minutes or so. Don't let these onions burn, young Jedi! If the onions or the nice crusty bits on the bottom of your pan burn, you're screwed - your dish will taste like a Cajun urinal cake. Just saying. It's better to go lower heat and longer time than to try and do it quick and burn it.
   
3. Add your mushrooms and stir. Keep these guys going on the heat until they start to release their moisture. Add the wine and the stock. Bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and put the roast back in the pot. Add the fresh thyme, about a heaping tablespoon or so. Use less if you've only got dried thyme.
   
4. Put the lid on your pot, stick the whole magilah in the oven and let it cook for about 3 - 3 1/2 hours. Take it out of the oven and let it rest on the stove top. In a large pot of salted water (Always cook pasta in salted water. About 1/2 as salty as the ocean), cook your papardelle. When it's done drain it and pour into a large bowl or, as I did, on a large, flat platter.
   
5. Take out your meat (hee hee!) and put it on a cutting board. It should basically be falling apart, so carving is more like shredding. Depending on how thick your meat is (hee hee!), you might end up with some slices as well as shredded. Put this meaty goodness on the pasta. Cover as much as you can. Spoon out the mushrooms and onions on top of that. Finally, pour the sauce all over your righteous pot roast creation. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, salt and pepper, serve family style.
   

The serendipity of this meal took everyone by storm, rendering some of us horizontal with it's silky, rich awesomeness. It's an easy throw-stuff-in-a-pot-and-walk-away kind of process that yields unreal results.

Try it out, let me know what happens.