Justice Stephen Breyer's Pot Roast

Justice Stephen Breyer

Supreme Court of the United States
Washington, D.C.

Ingredients

• 1 cinnamon stick broken into pieces
• 4 cloves
• 3 allspice berries
• 6 black peppercorns
• Olive oil
• 3 to 5 pounds of beef for pot roast
• 1 finely chopped celery
• 2 or 3 peeled carrots
• 1 cup of port wine (or Burgundy wine)
• 1 28oz can crushed Italian tomatoes
• Salt
• Fresh parsley to garnish, chopped

Preparation

1. Combine the cinnamon, cloves, allspice and pepper corns in a coffee grinder or mortar and turn them into powder.
2. Sauté the meat in oil until browned on all sides (ten minutes or so). Then put in slow cooker (or oven casserole).
3. Sauté onion in the oil until browned; add celery carrots and garlic and sauté a few minutes more; then add spice mixture and sauté for another minute or two; then add the wine and cook until wine reduce by about a third; then add the tomatoes (all the while scrape up any bits stuck to bottom so they become part of the sauce) Add salt.
4. Pour over meat in slow cooker (or oven dish) and cook on low for six to eight hours.
5. Serve over polenta and garnish with parsley. 

Good with Northern Italian red wine.