Pot Roast Rib Roast Of Beef

Serves 6 to 8, depending on side dishes

Ingredients:

2 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 onions, peeled and chopped
2 leeks, cleaned, trimmed and chopped
2 whole heads of garlic, skin on (I peeled them, slap my wrist)
Bundle of fresh herbs (I used flat leaf parsley, sage, thyme and rosemary
10 black peppercorns
2kg piece of beef brisket or rib roast - as it comes off the animal, unboned, unrolled
1 litre unsalted chicken stock
2 glasses red wine

Method:

This is seriously low maintenance. Add the veg, herbs and everything but the meat, wine and stock to a high sided roasting dish or pot in which the meat fits fairly snuggly. I used a Creuset casserole. Make a nice flavoursome bed for the beef then nessle her in there free from the base and sides of the dish/tray. Add the wine and stock. It should come about four fifths of the way up the side of the joint.

Cover and cook in a medium/low oven for three hours. It should be simmering, so check it throughout to check there's no raging boil happening.

Serve with a ladlefull of juice. Thicken it if you like or serve with mash to soak it up. The remaining juice can be strained to make a great soup base. As there's a sealing layer of fat on it, it also keeps well in the fridge. I chucked in some watercress and something else that escapes me now and it was a great Sunday night restorative soup.

Adapted from Nose To Tail Eating - Fergus Henderson