Braised Beef Pot Roast

I made this for my mom's Mother's Day dinner. I can't personally vouch for it, but everyone else was raving and pretending to swoon. The next day I fielded no less than eighteen calls asking for the recipe. Here's one for you meat-eaters.

4 lb beef pot roast
4 large carrots, cut into 2" pieces
4 stalks celery, cut into 2" pieces
1 large onion, cut into eighths
1 cup red wine OR 1/2 c red wine vinegar
2 cups beef broth
2 bay leaves
olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
1/8 tsp salt and pepper

1. Trim fat from beef roast and tie with string. Heat 2 tbs olive oil in large pot or dutch oven, brown beef on all four sides. Remove from pot.
2. Sautee onions, carrots, celery in same pot over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Remove veggies, set aside.
3. Return beef to pot. Add broth, red wine, thyme, salt, pepper and bay leaf. Simmer beef in liquid for two hours, turning meat every 30 minutes to cook evenly on all sides.
4. Return vegetables to pot. Cook for an additional 20-30 minutes.

Let meat rest for ten minutes for cutting, as my daughter reminded me: "That's what Rachel Ray always says to do!"

I served it with the dijon-dill sauce which I usually use on my asparagus. My dad also made pan gravy, but everyone ate the dijon sauce instead.