In my neck of the woods the weather has been dark and dreary and briefly snowy and now rainy, so I thought a warming, comfort-food recipe might be appropriate for this time of year. Unless you live in Florida, in which case AREN’T YOU FANCY WITH YOUR DECEMBER FLIP-FLOPS.

I found this recipe online and have forgotten where, so I apologize for not being able to give recognition where it is surely deserved. This was such a success I’m sure I’ll be making it many more times before the sun comes back out in Seattle, and it’s easy enough for anyone—hey, if I can do it, you can. Impress your family! Make your dog go insane with drooling! Or just eat it all by yourself because mmmmm.

(Vegetarians, you can just go ahead and skip this one.)

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 boneless chuck-eye roast (about 3 1/2 pounds or so) (I should say that while this is what the recipe calls for we just stopped at a meat store and asked for “pot roast meat” because I didn’t actually know what chuck eye roast is)

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• salt & pepper

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 1 piece of celery, chopped

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 teaspoons sugar

• 1 cup chicken broth

• 1 cup beef broth

• 1 teaspoon thyme

• 1 cup red wine

• Carrots and potatoes as you see fit

Here’s what you do:

1. Heat your oven to 300 degrees. Sprinkle the creepy hunk of bloody red raw meat generously with salt and pepper.

2. Heat the oil in a large ovenproof cooking pot/Dutch oven over medium-high and brown the roast thoroughly on all sides, reducing the heat if the fat begins to smoke, 8 to 10 minutes total. Transfer the roast beast to a large plate; set aside.

3. Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion and celery to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally until everything is beginning to brown, 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic and sugar and cook about 30 seconds longer. Now dump in your chicken and beef broths and thyme, scraping the pan bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits.

4. Return the roast beast to the pot; add enough water to come haflway up the sides of the roast (note: the amounts of broth I added made it unnecessary to do the water step, maybe my pot is small). Add your peeled carrots and potatoes at this point, artfully arranging them around the beast. Cover with a lid, bring the liquid to a simmer over medium heat, and transfer the pot to the oven.

5. Cook, turning the roast every 30 minutes (or . . . not. I didn’t turn mine once) until fully tender and a meat fork or sharp knife slips easily in and out of the meat, 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

LAST STEPS:

Transfer the roast to a plate or carving board and cover with foil to keep warm. Allow the liquid to settle about 5 minutes in the cooking pot then skim the fat from the surface. Boil over high heat until it is reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 8 minutes. Add the wine (I had none on hand so used a few tablespoons of red wine vinegar) and boil about 2 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

THEN:

Serve your meat and veggies with some of the reduced sauce poured on top. Eat until your eyes roll back in your head, your pants come unbuttoned, and you fall into an ecstatic food coma.