By Labor Day weekend. The last bright weekend. I worked Saturday and Sunday and had Monday off and went to Angela's for a barbecue. James grilled. James is Korean-American and grills with the precision of an electrical engineer. The meat was perfect. The bulgogi was perfect. He brought out kimchi from the basement freezer that he had made in February.
James and I have a thing. Not romance — James is married to my sister. The thing is a respect thing. James and I are both quiet people in a family of loud people. He grilled and I stood next to him and we did not say much and the not-saying was the conversation. He said at one point, "Grace, your face has been heavier this summer." I said, "The hum. The ER question." He said, "What does Lourdes say." I said, "Lourdes does not know. I have not told her. She will worry." He said, "She knows. She knows everything." I said, "She knows but does not name." He said, "Names will come when they come." We went back to grilling. James says the right thing without trying.
I made bulgogi at home on Monday — James's recipe. I wrote a blog post called "When Your Filipino Sister Marries Korean." It was about James, about kimchi, about how Asian-American families are not single ethnic islands but archipelagos. The post got fifteen hundred comments. A Filipina married to a Vietnamese man in Houston wrote: "We have been doing this for thirty years. The kids think pho and pancit are siblings." I forwarded the comment to Angela. Angela texted back: "They are siblings." She is right.
James’s bulgogi was precise and perfect, and I knew I could not replicate it — not yet, not without him standing next to me. So when I got home Monday evening, still carrying the weight of the summer and the warmth of the afternoon, I reached for something different: a pot roast, low and slow, the kind of cooking that does not require you to say much, that just asks you to trust the process and wait. It felt right. It felt like standing next to James.
Ultimate Pot Roast
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 3 hours 30 minutes | Total Time: 3 hours 50 minutes | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 lb beef chuck roast
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 3 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 3 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 lb baby potatoes, halved
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Preheat and season. Preheat your oven to 325°F. Pat the chuck roast dry with paper towels and season generously on all sides with salt and pepper.
- Sear the roast. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the roast for 4 to 5 minutes per side until a deep brown crust forms. Transfer the roast to a plate and set aside.
- Build the base. Reduce heat to medium. Add the onion and celery to the pot and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, scraping up any browned bits. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute more.
- Deglaze. Pour in the red wine and stir, letting it reduce by half, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add liquid and aromatics. Pour in the beef broth and Worcestershire sauce. Add the rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves. Return the roast to the pot — it should be partially submerged.
- Braise low and slow. Bring the liquid to a gentle simmer, then cover and transfer to the oven. Cook for 2 hours.
- Add vegetables. After 2 hours, add the carrots and baby potatoes around the roast. Cover and return to the oven for an additional 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes, until the meat is fork-tender and the vegetables are cooked through.
- Rest and serve. Remove and discard the bay leaves and herb sprigs. Let the roast rest for 10 minutes before slicing or pulling apart with two forks. Serve with the vegetables and braising liquid spooned over the top.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 480 | Protein: 42g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 24g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 620mg