Shift

The slow shift into spring began yesterday, foreshadowed by a mild migraine earlier. We pushed the clocks forward one hour, and somehow the sun sprang out and temperatures climbed above freezing. In fact, the next ten days forecast temperature at or above 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Snow is melting, the earth is thawing, and all living things are waking, breathing, multiplying.

Immediately, the outdoors tugged at me. A daily walk is sure to become a part of my routine. The woodpeckers are pecking, the skunks are spraying, and the birds are singing. As I rounded the corner today, a nuthatch and a chickadee fought over a prime piece of real estate, a large hole in a sturdy branch far above the electrical lines. I stopped to stare at the ruckus reminded that we will all be kicking it into high gear soon. Spring cleaning, spring planting, spring projects, spring plans for nests and beds and homes of all sorts.

How can it be that I always fail to remember the magic of spring? I doubt its coming and forget to take comfort in the bliss to follow a rough winter. Although the season's arrival is marked on the calendar and returns like a very old friend, the feeling it evokes is always brand new and intense like a first love which at my age doesn't seem like such a bad thing.

With the shift at hand, I did return to an old standby last week in the kitchen, too. I thought I would share my recipe for pot roast, which I had forgotten to make all winter duly noted in the way the entire family gobbled it down to great satisfaction for dinner. My recipe for pot roasts rests on three necessities which remain my old standbys:

• a large, seasoned Dutch oven that has seen plenty of use, 
• a bottle of good, aged red wine. and 
• four sprigs of rosemary from the rosemary plant now four years old in the massive stone pot that shuffles between the front porch in the summer and the guest bedroom window with southern exposure in the winter.

Good food can be so simple. I rely on a leaner top round roast. When roasted at low temperatures, it comes out of the oven very tender and the savory juices enhanced by the red wine retain less fat, making them delicious for pouring over the meat or mashing into the potatoes. Of course, a chuck roast is the more economical and traditional option here.

Red Wine Pot Roast

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 small onions, trimmed and peeled
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces
2 cloves garlic, trimmed and peeled
1 pound carrots (trimmed, peeled, and cut into large pieces)
1 whole (3 or 5 pound) top round roast
Sea salt and ground black pepper
1 or 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup red wine
2 cups (3 pound roast) or 3 cups (5 pound roast) beef stock
4 sprigs rosemary

1. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add whole onions, browning them on both ends. Remove and set aside.
2. Add potatoes, garlic, and carrots and brown lightly for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove and set aside along with the onions.
3. Generously season roast with sea salt and ground black pepper. Add butter to the pan and sear roast in the pan, 1 to 2 minutes on each side, until well browned all over. Remove and set aside.
4. Add red wine to the pan to deglaze, scraping up all the browned bits remaining on the bottom with a whisk.
5. Return roast to the pan and surround with browned vegetables. Add beef stock and top with rosemary.
6. Cover and roast at 275°F for 3 hours with a 3-pound roast or 4 hours with a 5-pound roast.

Yield: 4 to 8 servings