This is a classic beef pot roast, the kind you would find on many American tables in the 1950s-a mahogany brown roast, cooked to melting perfection, surrounded by potatoes and carrots and bathed in a delicious pan gravy. Pot roast normally takes at least three hours to slow cook, but the pressure cooker brings you that slow-cooked goodness in less than an hour.
SERVES: 6 TO 8
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- One 3-pound boneless rump roast, tied at 1-inch intervals
- 2 teaspoons salt, plus more if needed
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more if needed
- 2 large sweet onions, such as Vidalia, finely chopped
- 4 celery stalks, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 2½ cups beef stock (page 20) or store-bought beef broth
- 12 small Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed
- 4 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch lengths, or 2 cups baby carrots
- 2 tablespoons flour mixed with ½ cup water
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Heat the oil in the pressure cooker over medium-high heat.
- Sprinkle the roast evenly with the salt and pepper, add it to the pressure cooker, and sear on all sides until evenly browned.
- Remove the roast from the pan.
- Add the onions, celery, thyme, and bay leaf, and sauté for 2 minutes or until the onions begin to soften.
- Add the soy sauce and stock, and return the beef to the pan.
- Arrange the potatoes and carrots on top of the roast.
- Lock the lid in place and cook at high pressure for 50 minutes.
- Release the pressure naturally and remove the lid, tilting the pot away from you to avoid the escaping steam.
- Remove the meat and vegetables to a serving platter and cover loosely with aluminum foil.
- Skim off any excess fat from the liquid, remove the bay leaf, and bring the liquid in the pot to a boil.
- Stir in the flour and water slurry and return the liquid to a boil.
- Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
- Remove the strings from the meat and carve into slices.
- Pour some of the gravy over the meat and pass the rest separately.
