What's on the Grill #249 Cast Iron Pot Roast w/Beer Gravy

I'm not really sure where the idea for this recipe came from.  When it comes to cooking beef, I typically stay away from braising, as I'm a direct heat kind of guy.  So, when I looked at a piece of chuck roast and then glanced at my cast iron dutch oven, what did I immediately think of?  Yeah, braising.  Add to this the idea of pulverizing vegetables, a la the Cinder Bock BBQ Sauce, and before I knew it, dinner was cast iron pot roast with beer gravy.  

The first run through was so good and easy, I duplicated it less than a week later to make sure it was not fluke turned success.  Nope, no accident.  After living through my formative years with a distaste of all things "pot" and "roast", I put together my own pot roast…and surprisingly, liked it.  Maybe Mom should have added beer to hers...

Cast Iron Pot Roast w/Beer Gravy

Servings: 2 big appetites.  For more servings, use a larger cut of meat, but maintain the gravy ingredients.

2 lb chuck roast
1 onion, sliced
3 gloves garlic, smashed
3 sprigs of thyme
2 - 12 ounce beers (Choose something malty and/or sweet…no lagers!)
salt and pepper
8 oz heavy whipping cream
3 Tbls corn starch

Set up the grill for direct medium and ready the dutch oven (i.e. remove it from the shelf knock off the dust).   

Season the meat throughly with salt and pepper.

Before putting the meat in the dutch oven, brown the meat directly on the grates and over the flame.  Just give it a few minutes each side.

Once browned, place the meat, onion, garlic, thyme and one of the beers into the dutch oven.

Instead of using beer from a bottle, I went right to the tap and pulled off some Dunkelweizen.  

Pour the beer over the meat and give it a good stir.

With everything in, put the lid on the dutch oven and close the lid of the grill.

This cut of meat isn't super huge, so it will finish cooking in about 90 minutes.  Once done, remove the meat from the dutch oven, wrap in foil, and set aside.

Next, make the gravy.  Pull out the thyme sprigs, they don't really blend well.   Next, pour the contents of the dutch oven into a blender/food processor to puree, or ideally, deploy an immersion blender.  It's a little tricky with the blender and the shallow nature of the oven, but a few pulses and an apron, make for a pretty fast puree and a relatively minor mess.

Once the desired constancy is reached with the blender, add the last remaining beer (unless you drank it, in which case, get another), and bring to a boil.  To accomplish the boil, either crank the heat up, or move the dutch oven to a side burner.  I opted for the latter, but either will work.

Let the contents boil for about 15 minutes.  At this point, turn the heat back down and add the whipping cream and corn starch.  Stir to incorporate.  Salt and pepper to taste.  

Remove the meat from the foil, slice, and serve with the gravy.  

Most importantly, serve with a good beer.  In this case, Milk Stout from Left Hand Brewing Company.  A big hearty meal requires a big hearty beer.

Are there any meals from your youth that you have "reevaluated" or perhaps, recreated?  As of late, this is happening a lot more to me.  I'm sure Mom is thrilled!