French Cuisine #3

So for tonight's meal, I made Jacques's Pot Roast. I had to go to the store for 2 things, the roast and turnips. I actually have never tried a turnip and didn't know what I was looking for. But, I knew to find them in the vegetable department. As I got to the store, I stared at the shelf for a good 2 minutes, hoping I was reading the badly marked labels right and was choosing the right thing. Oh thank heavens I was right.

Here is the ingredient list and how I made this.

One 5-pound bottom round roast
Kosher Salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
2 cups chopped onion, 1 inch pieces
1 large tomato, cored and chopped into 1 inch pieces
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried thyme or 6 sprigs fresh thyme
1 1/2 cups white wine
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 to 2 pounds white turnips, peeled, trimmed, and sliced into large wedges
1 pound small white onions, about 20 the size of ping-pong balls, blanched and peeled
1 pound baby carrots
1 1/2 cups green peas, fresh or frozen (I actually forget this now that I am writing this)
1 tbs chopped fresh parsley, far garnish
Yellow potatoes, cut up ( I added this to the recipe, and used 5) optional

Preheat over to 300 degrees
Season the roast, both sides with salt and pepper
Add 2 tbsp of oil to frying pan and set to high heat. When oil is hot, lay in the roast and sear for 3 minutes, turn over and sear that side for 3 minutes and keep turning and searing until the entire roast is browned.
Arrange the onion and tomato pieces, potatoes the bay leaves, and the thyme springs around the meat and pour in the wine and water. Bring the liquid to the boil, cover the casserole, and set in the oven for 3 to 4 hours, until the meat is tender.
Remove the dish from the oven. Add the turnips, onions and carrots around the roast and season with salt and pepper. Place back in the over for 1 1/2 hours. Last 1/2 hour, add the peas.

I made gravy with it. I put in about 2 tbsp of butter to a pot, once melted, I added 1/4 cup of flour and used the juice from the casserole and added that slowly to the pot.