Classic Pot Roast

Leslie...as requested here is the Pot Roast recipe.

As I mentioned recently, I received a copy of Cuisine at Home.  I wanted to evaluate a few of the recipes before making the decision to subscribe or not. I've already made the BLT Pasta.

For the second recipe I decided to make the Classic Pot Roast.  It was very good and very easy as you cook it in a slow cooker.  I guess you don't call them crock pots anymore.

(Currently, I am oven-less, so the slow cooker has become very important around here.)

My variations and comment are in italics.

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 boneless chuck roast trimmed and seasoned with salt and pepper (3-4 lbs) (I think you can use a variety of beef roasts)
1/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup white wine (I used red wine as I like red with beef)
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 cups sliced onions
6 medium carrots peeled and cut into 2-3 inch pieces
3 large celery ribs, cut into 2-3 inch pieces
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme (tie to together with cooking string for easy removal)
2 bay leaves

Heat oil in large sauté pan over medium high heat.  Sear roast on all sides, about 10 minutes total.  Transfer roast to 4-6 qt slow cooker.
Stir flour into sauté pan, cook 1 minute.  (IMPORTANT:  Make sure you have enough oil/juice in the pan for the flour or it will just get lumpy.  If you need more liquid, add more oil or melt some butter in saute pan first. You need to be able to make a roux with the flour. For a 1/4 cup of flour, you will need about 1/4 cup of liquid in the pan.)
Add tomato paste and cook 1 minute.
Deglaze saute pan with wine and cook until liquid evaporates to half.  Stir in broth and Worcestershire, bringing mixture to a simmer and scraping up any brown bits.
Transfer broth mixture to the slow cooker.  Add onions, carrots, celery garlic, thyme and bay leaves.  Cover and cook until meat is fork-tender.  High setting 4-5 hours.  Low setting, 8-9 hours.  Discard thyme and bay leaves before serving.

Serve with Mashed Potatoes as the gravy is yummy.