Pot Roast with Kale and Garlicky Sweet Potato Mash

Pot Roast. It's not something I grew up with (given that my parents were vegetarian!) but now I love it. I was particularly happy with the one I made the other night, especially as I didn't have any fancy ingredients (like homemade stock). We loved it and so did our kids. Plus I was happy because there are lots of veggies in there and because they are cooked in the one pot and not drained, we're not losing any nutrients.

Here's what you'll need:

• A pot roast. I used a Bottom Blade Roast, but any will do. Mine was about 3lbs, but it doesn't matter. This is a freewheelin' kinda recipe
• Celery - half a bunch, chopped (bunch? What do you call a celery plant?)
• Carrots - I used about 4 large ones, diced
• Onions - 2-3 chopped
• Garlic - As much as you want. I happened to have some lovely local hardneck stuff and the cloves are huge. I used 4 cloves, chopped
• Kale
• Mushrooms - about 2 cups, chopped
• Flavourings - I used Worcestershire Sauce, Soy Sauce and (don't freak out) anchovy paste. You could use:
• Wine
• Stock
• Apple Juice
• Bouillon Cube if desperate (not recommended)
• Soy
• Miso
• Vegemite or Marmite
• Anything else tasty and liquid (or something that will dissolve)
• Herbs - I used a sprig of rosemary, but bay, thyme or something else robust would be fine
• Sweet Potatoes - 3
• Regular Potatoes - 4ish
• More Garlic for the mash

Take your hunk-a meat and season it well on all sides with salt and pepper. Heat some oil in a large pot (I used a dutch oven) and brown it well on all sides. This will take about 5 mins per side, at least. Remember that browning = flavour. Take the meat out and put it somewhere to hang out while you do the rest (something with sides because it will drip juices).

Then put your onions, carrot and celery in the pot and cook over medium until soft. Add your garlic at the end.  Now you'll add your liquid. Put some wine, water or whatever you're using in the pan and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Now put your mushrooms in and add back the meat and any juices that collected. Top up the liquid to almost cover the meat. Now I added a good slurp of soy sauce, Worcestershire and about 4 Tbs of anchovy paste. I know that sounds scary but it doesn't taste fishy at all. You won't know it's there, I promise (except that the finished dish will taste amazing). Now add your herbs.

Now put it over low heat and let it just simmer (no boiling!) for a few hours. Reckon on it taking about 3 hours. Turn the roast over ever hour or so. When the meat is almost ready (it's ready when you can pull it apart with a fork) add your chopped kale and taste the juice and correct the seasoning. Keep simmering until the kale is very tender.

After you add the kale, bring a pan of water to the boil and put in your peeled and chopped (big chunks) potato, sweet potato and peeled whole cloves of garlic. When they are tender, drain and mash and then add some butter (be generous) and some milk or cream. Season with salt and pepper.

Now take your tender meat out of the pot and slice it on the diagonal. Put a mound of mash on the plate and a few pieces of meat. Now spoon some veggies and lots of the yummy juices over the top.