we had a few people over just before christmas and made a few recipes, some old, one new. The new one was a stand out for us and will be made again! But a fairly new but multiply tried and true for us is cola braised pot roast – that’s right…it’s southern and made with Coke! It braises all afternoon and is fall apart amazing! We adapted this recipe from Emeril Lagasse and make it at least once a month. We love his cooking and have been to several of his restaurants around town. My Aunt Col and Uncle Mike bought us a huge dutch oven for our wedding and we use it for this among other things.
This recipe is great for either entertaining or leftovers!

4-4 1/2# boneless chuck roast
2 X 2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
2 Tablespoons pasted garlic
2 Tablespoons canola oil
2-4 cups beef broth
1 can of coke (12 oz)
2-3 Tablespoons tomato paste
2-3 Tablespoons of flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Paste the garlic on your cutting board by taking off the ends and then smashing it with the side of your knife. Pull off the skin and run your knife through a few times. Sprinkle with a little salt and use the blade to sort of pull and smash the garlic into a paste. Cut some deep slits in the beef and poke in the garlic paste. Pat on the salt and pepper all over the roast.
Heat your dutch oven on the stove top with the canola oil to a medium, medium high heat. Deeply sear each side of the meat. This will give a beautiful color and help with the flavor. Once you have done all the sides. turn your heat down a little and add the beef stock and Coke. You only want the braising liquid to come between 1/2 and 2/3 of the way up the sides of your roast. Stir in the tomato paste and use a wooden spoon or silicon spatula to get any brown bits from around the beef.
Cover and place your roast in the oven. It needs to cook for 3 1/2-4 hours. Flip the meat every hour to ensure it all simmers gently in the braising liquid. If the liquid gets low (I think this would happen sometimes, but hasn’t happened to me) add more stock or a little water.
In the last hour we usually peel and boil yukon gold potatoes for a whipped potato puree. Brian drizzles this with truffle oil but I prefer the braising liquid gravy.
When the meat is falling apart, lift it out of the pot and place in a covered bowl or on a serving plate and cover with foil.
If you can skim off any fat, this would be a good idea. Reserve 3 Tablespoons in a small mixing bowl. Keep the braising liquid on the stove at a low simmer. Mix the reserved fat with the flour to create a paste. Whisk the paste into your simmering juices to create a gravy. Continue to whisk until your sauce thickens.

Enjoy!