Take Me Out to the Ballgame

So that you know that braising roasts until the meat falls off the bone isn’t the only thing I like about the fall months, I want you to know that I also look forward to autumn because of the World Series.

I am not a baseball fan. Baseball, like gardening, is one of those things that I want to like, but simply don’t. My sister loves baseball. She enjoys spending a day at the ballpark. She understands why the catcher is making funny hand signals and what they might mean. She knows what the bullpen is. I, on the other hand, have trouble sitting for three hours watching a sporting event that isn’t football.

My dad, who is now deceased, also loved baseball. Well, to be honest, he loved any sporting event that involved a ball. But especially in his later life, he loved his Colorado Rockies. And he loved to talk baseball with anyone who would listen. He would try with me, but I just didn’t know or care what a ground rule double was. So he would talk baseball with my sister, who does know what a ground rule double is. He always did like her best.

But even not being a baseball fan, I recognize that there is something special about the World Series. It’s the culmination of an entire summer of seemingly endless baseball. It has all that history and legend and controversy. I remember even in Catholic grade school in Nebraska in the 60s that the nuns let the boys listen to the World Series on their transistor radios during class because, well, it was the World Series.

One of the best things my sibs and I ever did was pool our money and buy Dad tickets to a World Series game back in 2007 when the Rockies played the Boston Red Sox. Dad was already unable to get around much without a wheel chair, but my stepmother accompanied him to the game. One of my sisters and I dropped them off at the ballpark. We parked the car illegally, and hustled them to the gate. We watched as my stepmother gamely pushed my dad through the purple throng, and we both agreed we felt much the same as we had when we watched our kids go off to kindergarten. Gulp. Later, my stepmother said that despite the crowd of excited fans, as they made their way towards the elevator, the “crowds parted like the Red Sea.” The fans were so kind, as only baseball fans can be.

The Rockies lost that game, and lost that series, but my dad never forgot that he got to attend a World Series game.

And in memory of my beef-loving dad, here is my fall recipe of the day:

Ree Drummond’s Perfect Pot Roast

Ingredients
Salt and pepper
One 3- to 5-lb. chuck roast
3 T olive oil
2 whole onions, peeled and halved
6 to 8 carrots, cut into 2-in pieces
1 c. red wine (optional)
3 c. beef broth
2 or 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 or 3 sprigs fresh thyme

Process
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.
Generously salt and pepper the chuck roast.

Heat the olive oil in large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions to the pot, browning them on both sides. Remove the onions to a plate. Throw the carrots into the same very hot pot and toss them around a bit until slightly browned, about a minute or so. Reserve the carrots with the onions.

If needed, add a bit more olive oil to the very hot pot. Place the meat in the pot and sear it for about a minute on all sides until it is nice and brown all over. Remove the roast to a plate.

With the burner still on high, use either red wine or beef broth (about 1 c) to deglaze the pot, scraping the bottom with a whisk. Place the roast back into the pot and add enough beef stock to cover the meat halfway. Add in the onions and the carrots, along with the fresh herbs.

Put the lid on, then roast for 3 hours for a 3-lb. roast. For a 4- to 5-lb roast, plan on 4 hours. The roast is ready when it’s fall-apart tender.