Mama Cee Jay's Belle-Licious Beef and Rice

Created as a tribute to my awesome Hell's Belles teammates for ZWT4 who inspired, impressed and amused me this summer! After summer vacation, I came home to a nearly empty refrigerator. So, I pulled out a beef roast from the freezer, pulled some things from the pantry and put together this delicious pot roast with rice. I cooked this in the oven (and turned my air conditioning to high), but I assume one could accomplish the same thing by cooking in a crockpot.

• Ready In: 4 hrs 15 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 4  lbs boneless beef chuck roast (cheap cut, not the expensive rib roast)
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• 1  large sweet onion, rough chopped
• 3  carrots, rough chopped
• 2  celery ribs, rough chopped
• 1  head garlic, separated into cloves and peeled
• 1 (28 ounce) can tomato puree
• 2  tablespoons curry powder (I used Balti seasoning by Penzeys Spices which is a mix of coriander, garlic, ginger, cumin, dundicu)
• 2  tablespoons kosher salt
•  fresh coarse ground black pepper, several grinds
• 2  tablespoons red wine vinegar (1 Tbl plus 1 Tbl)
• 1  cup long grain rice (uncooked)
• 1  teaspoon rosemary, crushed leaves
•  salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. On the stovetop in a large dutch oven or oven proof stockpot, brown all sides of beef in olive oil over medium high heat. Add onions, carrots, celery and garlic cloves and sauté for a few minutes. Add tomatoes and one can of water to completely cover beef. Add spice mix, kosher salt, one Tbl red wine vinegar and coarsely ground black pepper. Bring to a simmer, then transfer to oven.
2. Cook for approximately 3 1/2 hours until beef is tender but not falling apart. Add rice, 1 can of water, 1 Tbl red wine vinegar and rosemary. Return to oven until rice is cooked and beef is seriously tender.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve.