Italian Pot Roast

This recipe comes from my mother's tattered, grease-stained copy, "Fifth Printing, 1971," of Sunset's Favorite Recipes. It's precious to me because it includes my mom's notes on recipes, as well as my own, and even Alicia's. To wit: Mom's handwriting on the "Forgotten Short Ribs": "The whole family enjoyed this." Alicia's handwriting (looks like she might be 10 or so), "Minus one". A vegetarian in training.

Oh, yeah, it also has some good recipes. This one did not have Mom's writing on it, but it was definitely worth making. I made a few minor changes.

This is easy but cooks for a long time: plan ahead.

Italian Pot Roast

2 T. olive oil

3-4 lb. chuck roast (my butcher gave me beef shank--at least I think he did, since he pointed to his forearm)

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

1/4 t. ground ginger

2 large onions, sliced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 c. white or red wine

1 oz. dried mushrooms (I used porcini, but a mix would be nice as well)

1 c. hot water

1 can tomato sauce

1 c. pitted olives (whatever kind you like)

Preheat the oven to 325. In a large oven-proof lidded skillet or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the roast with the salt, pepper, and ginger and brown it well on all sides in the oil. Remove the meat, turn down the heat a bit, and sauté the onions until they are starting to turn golden. Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds. Add the wine, scrape up the bottom, and let cook down just a bit. Put the roast in the pot, put some of the onions on top, and cover. Put in the oven and bake for 90 minutes.

While the roast is cooking, soak the mushrooms in the water. When the 90 minutes are about up, scoop the mushrooms out of the water (save that mushroom liquid!), squeeze them out a bit, and chop them roughly. Turn the roast over and add the mushrooms to the pot. Strain the mushroom liquid into the pot as well. Cover and put back in the oven for an hour. Add the tomato sauce and olives and cook yet another hour. Enjoy the way your kitchen smells. Take the meat from the sauce and slice it; check the seasoning of the sauce, and serve with pasta or potatoes or polenta. This probably serves at least 6.