I have made a different and IMHO to die for pot roast a few times.
I never wrote it down, read it in a magazine....and you know how I am, once I get the concept know how to do it...so here's the "concept".
Dredge the meat in flour which has had just the barest bit of cinnamon added....like 1/4 tsp of cinnamon to 1/4 cup of flour.
Brown the floured meat on all sides in a little bit of oil, while in a fry pan you slowly fry a sliced onion in a bit of butter until it starts to caramelize.
When the meat has browned, add a cup of dry red wine and the onions and about a scant 1 /4 cup of dried cherries ( it called for more cherries and cinnamon but I cut that down).
Keep at a slow simmer until the meat is tender, adding a little water if necessary.
Slice and serve with some of the onions and cherries. The "sauce" should all ready be a little thickened from the dredging flour, but if you want it thicker use a slurry oif flour and broth if you want...and add salt to taste but if you have added broth It may be already salty enough....at least for me.
Linda C

Thanks Linda, that does sound good and DMIL likes fruit with meat. I may use the juice from a jar of Morello cherries along with the red wine to cook it and add a few cherries at the end. I could get dried cherries but I have some jarred that I'd like to use up. I also like cinnamon with meat.

Lee

Be careful you don't get it too sweet....all the onions make it sweet to start with...I think that maybe the jarred cherry juice might be too much. The dried cherries I get are sour Michigan cherries.
And if you are sure you like cinnamon with beef you might want to add more to the dredging flour...I sometimes find people who say "you put cinnamon in the gravy??/"...so I am careful! LOL!

Another different chuck roast "concept" is dredge with flour, brown etc, add dry wine, chopped onions whole button mushrooms and Kalamata olives.
Linda C

Lee, I looked for a recipe that sounded good last night, got out several meat cookbooks....nothing appealed to me.
This morning I thought about it again and realized my dilemma..... You have a PRIME grade chuck roast. The chuck cut is one that has some of the very best flavor and since yours is Prime, I'm sure it is well marbled so even better flavor and more tender. I don't think I'd do anything that might mask the good piece of meat you have. Let the flavor shine. I'd brown it well, add onions and garlic, S+P, and cook in a little broth or water. Add wine (and have a glass yourself!). Don't overcook....I just fork test for tenderness. Remove the meat and make a nice gravy, adding more wine and maybe some mushrooms, thicken with a flour slurry. I vote for nice creamy mashed potatoes...

I think you'll enjoy the nice cut better this way instead of adding too many unusual flavors....Linda's ideas sound good but I'd try those on a regular chuck roast.

Enjoy and please let us know if the Prime was worth the dollars...just in case I ever run across one.

Nancy

Linda, my jarred cherries are pretty sour and I don't think that combined with a dry red wine that I will wind up with it too sweet. OTOH, it is always a challenge to get DMIL to eat more than three or four bites of meat and one way to accomplish that with her is to have a sweetish sauce. I would do it differently if it was just for the two of us. But she likes sweet, likes onions, likes cinnamon so I think this will be perfect.

Nancy, I bought two of these roasts, one is in the freezer, and I will do the second one for just Max and me much more the way you would do it. It is well marbled meat. I bought these on a grand opening special at small market and they were on sale for $3.99 a pound - amazing! Our son got prime steaks there a week earlier for about $8. a pound. Most of their meats are choice but a few cuts were prime. Thanks for your warning not to over cook it. It is just four pounds and I will either cook it on a controlled burner or in a 325° oven after I brown it.

I'm thinking somewhere between two and half and three hours to cook it. Do you two think I'm on target with the timing?

I'll report back on how this turned out.

Thanks to both of you.

Lee

I think this is a good candidate for simple roasting with Yorkshire Pudding made in the pan with the drippings. Like the English "joint" of beef!

Lee, If you put it in the oven after browning I wouldn't cook it as hot as 325....more like 220 or so....youw ant just a tiny simmer going on.
Don't know nuffin' bout Morello cherries....use your judgement.
And as my dear departed mother in law used to say when I would say something was good..."you put good things in you get good things out." Good meat, good onions, good wine...etc... Can't be bad.
Linda C

Thanks Linda, I'll definitely use the lower temp. How long do you think the minimum time should be? Or if I use a temp probe, what internal temp for this type of roast?

L

No idea of the internal temp.....but after browning I would cook it at the very low tem-p ( bring it to a simmer on thes tove top) for 2 hours....fork tender is my guideline.
A chuck roast won't get dry and stringy like an eye of the round will , and when it's done you can take it out of the oven and it will stay for easily an hour....and if necessary you can re heat it.
Linda C

Linda, it's only been in the oven 15 minutes but I think I have heaven in a cast iron pot. I floured (with salt, red pepper, DMIL doesn't eat black pepper but is fine with a hint of red, and a scant 1/2t cinnamon) and browned it while the onion was browning in butter. Added 1/2c cherry juice, 1/2c Cabernet, 1/2c beef stock and grated the zest of one orange over the top. Max flamed the top of the meat with 2T of brandy, covered it and slid it into the 250º oven. I'll add just a few cherries when I serve it.

I set the timer for two hours and will still have time to cook it a little more if it needs it, or just let it rest. We don't eat before 7:30.

I am going to have plain baked sweet potatoes and butter and will decide after I taste the meat if brocolli or green beans will be a better side. Helen is bringing a rice pudding - maybe I'll sweeten some of the cherries to top it.

L

This was really, really good! I was happy with the recipe, but the meat itself was fantastic. I have never felt completely successful with pot roasts. I always seem to have dry meat under the gravy. This roast, which I wound up cooking almost three hours at 225° and then letting it rest for another 20 minutes while I strained all the juices out, let the fat rise to the top, removed the fat and returned the juices to the pot with all the chopped onion, was delicious. I cooked it to an internal temp of 175° worrying that it would be overdone, but it was perfect. I found a reference on the web suggesting an internal temp of 165° but it was not tender enough and the juices were too bloody for a pot roast. I blitzed the juices and the onion into a smooth sauce and added just a little, about a teaspoon, of cornstarch stirred into a couple of ounces of red wine to thicken it. The meat sliced smoothly and perfectly and was meltingly moist and tender. It was certainly the best pot roast I have ever made and I thought this is what you would get if you ordered a fancy braised beef in a good restaurant.

Everyone enjoyed it and the simple sides of baked sweet potato and steamed green beans were perfect.

I'm looking forward to cooking my other piece in a more savory manner, undoubtedly with mushrooms and red wine. I will be looking for more PRIME cross cut chuck.

Thanks again for all your help and if you see a prime grade cross cut chuck, grab it, in fact grab all you can.

Lee