Roast Beef with Coffee Gravy

from Closet Cooking (click here to see the recipe with photos)

• 3-5 pound chuck roast
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2 onions (sliced)
• 2 cups beef broth
• 2 cups coffee
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 1 tablespoon flour mixed into 1 tablespoon water
• salt and pepper to taste
• *"new" potatoes - my addition
• * carrots cut into 1-inch pieces - my addition

Season the beef with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the beef and brown on all sides and set aside.Add the onion to the pan and saute until tender, about 3-5 minutes.

Add the beef stock and deglaze the pan. Add the beef back to the pan along with the coffee, balsamic vinegar, bay leaves and thyme and bring to a simmer.

Cover and transfer to a preheated 325F over and bake until fork tender, about 3-5 hours.Set the beef aside, cover and let cool. Strain the solids from the gravy and skim off the fat. Add the flour and water mixture and simmer until it thickens, a few minutes. Season the gravy with salt and pepper. *I added carrots and potatoes in the last hour of cooking.

My Review: Yum! This was delicious! I've never made a pot roast before. I'm not sure why - because it was incredibly easy. I did have some problems with the gravy. I've never made gravy before and it was kind of hard to do. It turned out to be more like broth with clumps of flour that I couldn't get unclumped. It still tasted OK, though.