Never having made a pot roast with ginger before, I was a little bit doubtful about this recipe. It turned out great, however. I overcooked the meat, unfortunately (my fault, I just forgot about it), and it was a bit dry - but the sauce gave it the necessary moisture and flavor. The sauce was indeed very tasty, with dark, profound flavors. The ginger is really a very nice addition, and it's not overpowering at all.

I made a couple of changes from the original recipe. For one, I only refrigerated it for about 6 hours before cooking it - rather than overnight, as the recipe called for. It probably meant a more subtle ginger flavor to the meat, which all in all was good, as my kids might have objected to a more flavorful meat. The original recipe also called for 1 cup of ginger beer and 1 cup of beef broth - I wasn't able to easily find the former, so I just used 2 cups of broths.

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Gingered Pot Roast Ingredients 3 lb chuck roast 3" fresh ginger, peeled salt & pepper 2 Tbsp. butter 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil 1 onion, coarsely chopped 2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped 1 celery rib, thickly sliced 2 Tbsp. flour 2 cups Beef stock a dash of powdered ginger Instructions Place the roast in a cutting board, and cut off excess fat. Make deep slits in the beef at 1" intervals. Cut the peeled ginger in two and save one part. Slice the other half into slivers, and place each sliver into one of the slits in the beef. Cover the beef with plastic and refrigerate for at least a few hours and up to 3 days. Preheat the oven to 350F. Coarsely chop the reserved piece of ginger and set aside. Remove the beef from the fridge and sprinkle salt and pepper on all sides. Heat the butter and oil over medium-high heat in a deep saute pan or small dutch oven. Add the beef and brown on all sides - remove and set aside. Pour out all but 1 Tbsp. of fat from the pan and heat the pan on medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery, and stir. Add the chopped ginger, stir and cook until the vegetables have softened a bit, about 3-5 minutes. Add the flour, stir and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the broth, increase heat to high, and bring the liquid to a boil, stirring often. Return the beef to the pan, cover tightly and place the pan in the oven. Cook, turning and basting occasionally, until the beef is tender, about 2 hours. Remove the beef from the pot, cover with aluminum foil and set aside. Strain the liquid into a medium-size pot and discard the vegetables. Bring the liquid to a boil, add a dash of ginger, and boil off until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve the beef with the sauce on the side.

Adapted from The Colonial Williamsburg Tavern Cookbook