Classic Beef Pot Roast With Pistachio Salt

Original recipe from Amy Thielen's The New Midwestern Table: http://bit.ly/15BfWIf

• Ready In: 5 hrs 30 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 4  lbs  beef  chuck roast, the more marbled the better
•  fine sea  salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1  tablespoon canola oil
• 2  tablespoons salted butter
• 3  stalks celery, cut into thirds
• 3  large carrots, quartered
• 2  medium turnips, quartered
• 3⁄4 cup dry red wine
• 2  cups low sodium beef broth
• 2  large  vidalia onions, cut into eighths
• 11  garlic cloves (10 whole, 1 minced)
• 4  dried bay leaves
• 1  tablespoon  minced fresh rosemary
• 1  tablespoon  minced fresh thyme
• 1  cup cherry tomatoes
• 1⁄4 cup  shelled salted pistachios, chopped
• 1⁄4 cup  chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Season the roast liberally with salt and pepper. Heat your largest high-sided skillet over high heat, add the oil, and then add the roast. Sear it quickly until dark brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. Set the roast aside, pour off and discard the excess fat from the skillet, and let the skillet cool a bit. Then add the butter, celery, carrots, turnips, ½ teaspoon salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook over medium heat, tossing, until the vegetables begin to soften at the edges, about 5 minutes. Transfer them to a wide bowl and reserve.
2. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
3. Add the wine to the skillet, bring to a boil, and cook until slightly reduced, about 3 minutes. Add the beef stock, and bring to a simmer.
4. Arrange the onions in the bottom of a large covered roasting pan and set the beef on top of them. Scatter the whole garlic cloves, bay leaves, rosemary, and thyme over and around the roast. Pour the beef stock mixture over the meat and cover the pan tightly. Bake for 1 hour.
5. Reduce the oven temperature to 285°F, and continue to braise for 2 hours.
6. Uncover the pan, skim off the fat around the edges with a small ladle, and discard it. With two large forks, carefully turn the meat over and ladle some juice over the top. Add the reserved sautéed vegetables, arranging them around the perimeter of the meat. Cover the pan and braise for 1 more hour.
7. Skim the fat again with a small ladle, baste the top of the meat again, and then scatter the cherry tomatoes across the top, some dropping onto the meat, some onto the vegetables. Don’t stir again. Braise, uncovered this time to allow the tomatoes to split and shrink and the top of the meat to brown, until the meat feels extremely tender at the touch of a fork, 30 minutes to 1 hour. Discard the bay leaves.
8. For the pistachio salt, combine the pistachios, parsley, minced garlic, and ¼ teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a small bowl.