Anna's Pot Roast with Fluffy Dumplings

I tried this recipe from "In the Kitchen with Anna" by Anna Olsen the other week, and it was one of the best pot roast we have tried.  And it wasn't a ton of work either! 

Ingredients:

The First Braise:
3 1/2  lb boneless blade or chuck beef roast, tied
salt & pepper
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 rib celery, roughly chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1 cup (or more) chicken or beef stock
1 can diced tomato

Vegetables:
1 lb mini potatoes, cut into quarters
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 medium white turnips, peeled and cut into wedeges
1 bottle dark beer

To Serve:
1 Tbsp butter
salt & pepper
Fluffy Dumplings
horseradish

Preheat oven to 325 F and season all sides of the roast.  Heat a dutch oven pot over medium-high heat and add the oil, heating for 1 minute.  Add the roast and sear for 2 minutes on each side until browned.

Remove the roast and reducethe heat to medium.  Add the onion, celery and carrots, and stir until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.  add the garlic, thyme and bay leaves and stir 1 minute more.  Return the roast to the pot and pour in the beef or chicken stock and diced tomato.  Add more stock or water if necessary so that the liquid comes halfway up the roast.  Cover the pot and bring liquid up to a simmer.  Transfer the pot to the oven and cook for at lease 3 hours, turning the roast over after 1 1/2 hours. 

After 2 hours of cooking, remove the roast from the pot.  Strain the liquid to remove the first batch of vegetables-they will be mushy and will have already have given out their full flavor and nutritive value.  Return the liquid to the pot skimming off the access fat.  Stir in the potatoes, carrots, parsnips and turnips along with the dark beer, and return the roast to the pot.  Cover and continue cooking in the oven until the roast and vegetables both yield easily when prodded with a fork, about 30 minutes. 

To serve, transfer the roast to a cutting board and cover with foil.  Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon to a serving dish and toss with butter, then season and cover to keep warm.  Untie the roast, slice and serve with vegetables, sauce (the braising liquid) and horseradish on the side.
Serves 6