Seven-Bone Pot Roast

Looking for great recipes for your braiser? Here's how to make my amazing seven-bone pot roast recipe for a braiser....(you can also use a Dutch oven or very deep, wide skillet).

Certainly, I prefer a braiser for gorgeous roasts like my Beef-Coriander Plat Unique (one-dish meal), but you don't need one to make this beauty.

The other day my sister was flipping—er, I mean swiping—her way through my Braiser Cookbook, and she came upon this photo and said WOW! What cut is that? I haven't seen that one for years.

Indeed, the famed seven-bone pot roast was a favorite of our Midwestern farm-wife grandmother. We must have had it at her table over 100 times.

What is a 7-Bone Pot Roast?

Cut from the chuck (or shoulder) like most good pot roasts, this roast is a particularly succulent cut of beef thanks to all that marbling and connective tissue, which melts to tender richness during a long, slow braise.

To be clear, the pot roast doesn’t have seven bones; rather, the one big bone that’s in the shape of a 7.

These days, many seven-bone roasts don't have the bone—your butcher has taken it out for you. While I prefer a bone-in roast,  bones or no bones, it's a great cut.

Substitutes for a 7-Bone Pot Roast

Any pot roast cut from the chuck (arm) of the animal makes a good substitution.

Best Recipe for a 7-Bone Pot Roast

And so here it is—it's one of my favorite ways with this roast. It combines Midwestern heartiness with a little French/African elsewhere-ness. Enjoy.

Beef Plat Unique with Coriander and Cardamom from The Braiser Cookbook

This plat unique (one-dish meal) combines popular French ingredients (leeks, garlic, and wine) with coriander and cardamom, popular North African flavors, which bring a little exoticism and warm spiciness to the sauce. You can use any round potatoes for this dish, but I loved eye-catching appeal that the combination of purple, red, and yellow potatoes brought to the dish.

1 2- to 2-1/2-pound 7-bone pot roast or beef chuck shoulder pot roast
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large leek, halved lengthwise, rinsed, and sliced, white and pale green parts only (about 3/4 cup)
8 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup beef broth
1 pound round white, red, and/or purple potatoes, cut in half if larger than 1-1/2 inches in diameter
3/4 pound peeled carrots, left whole if thin (cut in half lengthwise if thicker than 3/4-inch)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Snipped fresh parsley

1. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a 3-1/2-quart braiser over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the roast and cook, turning as needed, until browned on all sides, about 15 minutes (reduce the heat to medium if the meat browns too quickly). Transfer the meat to a plate.

2. Reduce heat to medium. Add onion and leek to the braiser. Cook, stirring, until vegetables are tender and lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic, coriander, and cardamom; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine and broth, stirring to loosen browned bits from bottom of braiser. Return beef and any juices to the braiser. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour.

3. Add potatoes and carrots to the braiser. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour more or until the meat and vegetables are tender. Remove the meat, potatoes, and carrots from the braiser. Cover to keep warm.

4. At this point there should be at least 1 cup liquid in the braiser. If not, add enough beef broth to equal 1 cup. In a small bowl, work the butter and flour together to make a paste (a beurre manié). Add the beurre manié bit by bit to the pan liquid, stirring with a wire whisk to blend away any lumps. Cook, stirring, until thickened and bubbly, then continue to cook and stir for 2 minutes more.

5. Pass the sauce with the meat and vegetables.

My grandmother, Anna Cox Monthei, a farmwife and wonderful cook who made many 7-bone pot roasts during her 101 years.

The farmhouse, built in 1907. The site of many wonderful 7-bone pot roasts over the years....