Good Doug

Instructions:

Start this dish in the morning to give it a lot of time to cook slowly in the oven.

Set a large dutch oven on the stove with some olive oil, and cook the sliced onions low and slow until they are just turning color. Remove them from the pan and reserve them in a bowl.

Mix the flour with salt and pepper (and any other spices you think might be nice) and use that to coat the seven bone roast really well. Turn the heat on under the dutch oven to medium high, add more oil if needed and set the roast in the pan. You're not trying to cook the meat through, just cook the flour and get some color from the meat and juices. Flip it once (carefully, it's heavy and unwieldy) and cook the other side as well.

Preheat your oven to 300ºF

Remove the meat to a plate for a moment. Up the heat to high and add the wine to deglaze the pan. Expect some sputtering. Stir up all the yummy bits and return the roast to the dutch oven. Add the root vegetables and pearl onions. Crush the garlic cloves and add them along with the bay leaves and any other herbs you might want to add (rosemary would be nice). Throw in the reserved cooked onions. Cover with the beef stock and bring to a simmer.

Once it has simmered a couple of minutes, cover and throw the whole thing into the oven. After it's been in there at least an hour, you can cut the temp to 250ºF and let it cook all day. You'll know it is done when the bones come out without any effort. If you don't want the root vegetables to be that mushy, feel free to add them an hour or so before you intend to serve it.

I remove the bones and use a spoon to make rough portions of meat and serve it as a stew in bowls with a slice or two of crusty bread slathered in butter.