Cooking: Pot Roast w/ Mashed Potatoes

Justyn was telling me earlier this week that he wanted pot roast and roast beef so I decided to make him a loving home cooked meal that he was so craving. I originally wanted to make Paula Deen's recipe but it would require 8 hours to cook. I didn't have that much time so I used Barefoot Contessa's recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/company-pot-roast-recipe/index.html).

I started out by searing off the big chunk of meat.

Then I added the mirepoix (onion, celery & carrot). BC's recipe called for leeks and no celery but I thought it would extra flavor by adding the celery. I also added the garlic after the mirepoix were half way softened.

The cognac and wine went in next along with the tomatoes. BC's recipe calls for whole plum tomatoes in puree but I just used regular ole crushed tomatoes. Fresh rosemary and thyme went in after that. Here's a money saving tip.. get the poultry herb pack of herbs instead of rosemary and thyme separate.

I brought the mixture up to a boil and then added the roast back in. This simmered for 2.5 hours.

The last half hour of cooking, I started the potatoes. Here's the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/mashed-potatoes-recipe/index.html. Protip: If you want fluffy and velvety mashed potatoes, use a ricer. It was my first time using it and the pay off was epic.

So here it is... I think the next time I make this, I'll use beer in place of wine. The sauce was slightly on the tangy side which wasn't bad but I wanted a deeper flavor to it.