Boston Rolled Pot Roast - Food, Wine and Company

This entry is my third pot roast and fourth roast overall in my Year of Meat.  And one thing I learned from the prior ones is that when cooking enough food to serve four or more people, it's best to have four or more people there to eat it!  What's nice about this year's quest, is that when we have plans on the calendar to have friends over, I can look to my remaining list of Paulina cuts and choose one ideal for the group.  Well, for this past Saturday night, we had plans to host friends with whom we haven't gotten together since October.  Too long, as we all agreed at the end of the night.

I remember when I was growing up, my Mom would often refer to guests for dinner as "company", as in, "we've got company coming over for dinner".  Is that expression still used?  I know I don't use it anymore.  But I like it.  Well, this past Saturday, we had company.  So, what to make?  Well, I decided I was going to use the Boston Rolled Pot Roast as the cut of choice.  So, what recipe should I use?  Well, a quick search online for 5 star recipes for Boston Rolled Pot Roast revealed one from Food Network Magazine's Ina Garten.  What was it called?  You guess it, Company Pot Roast.

But before I can do the main course justice, can I talk about the deliciousness that my wife put together for an appetizer?  She put together chopped radicchio, pepperoncinis, toasted pine nuts, goat cheese and some oils/vinegars and rolled that "filling" into salami rolled into little cones.  I have joked in the past about meat cones, to rival ice cream cones.  Never did I think that my wife would be the one to make me my first meat cone.  It was delicious!  To be fair, the filling was vegetarian, but the cone was salami and that counts to me.  So good!!!

OK.  To the main course, the Company Potroast.  Put a rub of Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper all over the roast.  Then, dredged the entire roast in all-purpose flour.  Then, browned the entire roast (which took about 20 minutes to get every side) in a dutch oven with olive oil.  Removed the roast and added more olive oil and cooked up carrots, celery, leeks, onions, garlic, salt and pepper.  Added in some canned crushed tomatoes, cognac, red wine, thyme and rosemary.  Ultimately, got the roast back into the dutch oven, covered it, and put it into the oven for a couple of hours.  After removing from the oven, I put half of the vegetables and sauce into a blender and pureed it.  Added the puree back to the pot, and stirred in some butter mixed with flour to thicken it up a bit.  Carved the roast, and served it on a platter with plenty of the sauce/gravy.  And when put on my plate, served it with even more of the sauce/gravy.  Paired this deliciousness with a 2009 Nickel & Nickel Merlot, and the meal was indeed a success.  And this completed the quality triumvirate of Food, Wine and Company.  A grand success.

But let's talk dessert. I have to throw props to my wife yet again.  She made a whipped lemon cream dessert that is served with crushed graham crackers, with little crystals of sea salt sprinkled over it.  YUM!  We opened an Italian white dessert wine which paired with it perfectly.  Again, yum!

Looking forward to more Food, Wine and Company!  20 down, 39 to go!