Finally! Fall apart Pot Roast

I have a love hate relationship with pot roast. I love to eat it, I hate to make it, because for some reason, I've never ever been able to get it to that fall apart tender goodness. I consider myself a decent cook. I cook for us at least 5 nights a week, so I know my way around the kitchen. But for some reason, my poor pot roast has never been good. I blame several attempts on my crappy crock pot. Emily knows what I'm talking about. It's the Smart Pot with the different settings....well for some reason the "low" setting cooks at about 1000 degrees and you end up boiling anything you put in there. I should probably just throw that thing out.

My keys to success this time were buying the right cut of meat, and cooking the roast in the oven in a dutch oven. I used a boneless chuck roast, trimmed of visible fat, seared it over high heat, then laid it over carrots and potatoes in a dutch oven and cooked it on 225 for three hours. I can't bring myself to cook with cream of anything in a can that looks scary and gelatinous, so the only liquid I added was beef broth mixed with lipton's onion soup mix, and a little bit of red cooking wine. I thickened up the liquid with a little cornstarch once the roast was done. You should have seen me in the kitchen when I pulled out the pot. Phil was already in bed, but I think I did a little dance of success at not ruining another $10.00 in meat, and it actually being good! :)