Bistro Garden Pot Roast

Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat oil over medium-high heat in roasting pan and sear beef until evenly browned on all sides, about 15 minutes. Remove from pan and keep warm.

Add onion, carrots, celery, garlic, dash sugar and dash rosemary to pot. Saute over medium heat until onion is browned, 15 minutes. Add tomato puree and saute several seconds. Add wine and simmer over medium-high heat until reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Add flour to sauce, stirring until smooth. Simmer a few minutes.

Return beef to pan and bring sauce to boil. Cover and bake at 350 degrees until beef is fork-tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Remove beef and keep warm. Skim off fat and strain sauce. Heat sauce and simmer until thickened and reduced slightly, 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning. Swirl in butter and mix well.

Peel potatoes and coarsely grate. Combine potatoes, onion, chives, eggs, flour and salt and pepper to taste in large bowl. Mix well.

Add 1/2 inch oil to skillet and heat over medium heat. Drop a little of potato mixture into oil; if it immediately sizzles and cooks, it’s hot enough. Using about 1/4 to 1/3 cup potato mixture for each pancake, add to hot oil and flatten to form into pancakes. Fry until golden brown on one side, then turn to finish cooking on other side, or until crisp, about 3 to 4 minutes a side. Drain pancakes on paper towels. Continue to cook pancakes, using more oil as needed until batter is used. Serve with pot roast.