Mammy Lape’s Roast Beef

I always thought roast beef was the prime ribs my mom made for special occasions. The meat was carved at the table and served medium-rare with potatoes roasted in the drippings. That’s not what my Ohio-born husband thought, as I found out when his daughter Debbie sent me this version of her grandmother’s roast beef, where a large piece of chuck is seared in a Dutch oven and cooked with a few aromatic vegetables for five hours. Milk gravy seems to be Dutch or German, as well as Southern. It’