Take a cheap thick cut of meat. Chuck roast is good. So it eye of round, just be careful not to over cook it.
Salt and pepper each side and the ends, cover and let sit in the fridge for a few hours.
When ready, get a heavy cast iron pot large enough to hold the roast, veggies, and liquid.
Add some fat. Could be oil, the higher the smoking point the better, but plain ol veggie oil works. Butter is ok. I have used a mix of veggie oil and butter in the past. But to be honest, lard is the best for obvious reasons. Or if you have it on hand, fry up some bacon till it is just crisp and use the bacon drippings.
Add the roast and sear till a good crust forms. You will want a splatter screen at this point.
Flip it over and get the crust on the other side.
Remove, and put in a bowl, the one you had the roast in the fridge is fine. Cut down on the number of dishes to wash.
Reduce heat to medium.
Pre-heat oven to 200 to 225.
This is where your personal preference comes into play.
I like to add sliced onions, and quartered mushrooms. Sweat out their liquids till they get kinda syrupy like. The mushrooms should have anywhere from a golden hue to a dark brown.
Deglaze the pan with a little white wine or red, wine vinegar, or even Worcester sauce. Be careful with the Worcester sauce. It is powerful! Use a wooden spoon to get all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan.
Add the roast and any juices in the bowl.
Add liquid. I have found a 50/50 mix of chicken and beef broth work the best. Add enough to come a little over half way up the roast.
Add a bay leaf, bruised. Thyme, sage and rosemary work too. Use what you like and have on hand.
If you like root veggies, add them now. Cleaned and bite sized. I dont like my mushy so I add them at this point.
Heat till the liquid begins to simmer. Then toss it into the oven till the roast is falling apart tender. Time varies depending on your oven, size of roast.
For eye of round, keep it rare or medium rare. Otherwise it is dry.
Pull the meat out and keep warm/tent with foil.
Meanwhile, place the pot back on the burner, and reduce the liquid by half and slightly thick. If you want it thicker, some cornstarch mix in cold water will do the trick. Mix into the liquid.
Cut the roast into portions, and cover with the gravy.
Serve.
Alternative is to cut the roast up into chunks. Put them and the gravy into a casserole dish and cover with mashed potatoes. Broil till the top of the potatoes get just a little browned. I like to add cheese to the top of the spuds and let the cheese brown.