Boeuf Braise (Braised Beef--Pot Roast braised in Tomato Sauce)

Reading the old cookbook--I bought it from used bookstore few years ago. Any old cookbook always interested me so much because the history are made in past in wonderful book, The Doine Lucas Book of French Cooking by Dione Lucas and Marion Gorman. I don't care where they graduated from Cordon Bleu but nice thing they made good efforts to teach anyone how to cook French Cuisine.
I thought you might like to read what I am sharing with you: Pot Roast braised in Tomato Sauce and I am hoping this recipe you can do at home. Really homemade better than that Marie Callander or whatever.

Here is the recipe for you:

Boeuf Beef

1 Tbsp salt butter

4 to 5 pounds bottom round of beef

1 2-pound can tomatoes

1 bay leaf

1 sprig parsley

2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced

2 thin slices lemon

1 cup dry red wine

Salt

Freshly cracked white pepper

2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

                Or 2 tsp potato flour

¼ cup cold water

½ tsp dried thyme

½ tsp celery salt

¼ cup dry sherry

Heat the butter very hot in a large deep heavy pan. Brown the beef on all sides, then add the tomatoes, bay leaf, parsley sprig, onions, and lemon slices. Cover the pan and cook over very low heat 50 minutes for each pound of meat (3 hours and 20 minutes for 4-pound roast). Add the wine a little at a time while the meat is cooking, and turn the meat several times to ensure even cooking. When the meat has cooked 2 hours, season it with salt and pepper. When the meat is done, remove it from the pan, and finish the sauce as follows. Blend the flour with the cold water. Stir it into the sauce in the pan, and then stir over low heat until the sauce thickens. Add the thyme, celery salt, and sherry. Simmer 2 minutes.

To serve, slice as much meat as needed for one serving, and arrange the slices slightly overlapping on a hot serving platter. Place the uncut piece of meat at one end of the dish. Spoon some of the sauce over the meat and serve the rest in a gravy boat.  8-10 servings.