Pot Roast- so easy it ought to be illegal

My husband's all time favorite meal is beef roast with potatoes and carrots.  That tender beef that has been studded with garlic cloves and is so moist and tender you can cut it with your fork. 
I found a new way to cook a chuck roast that is so easy, it should be illegal.  It comes out of the oven with the gravy already made, and you can not believe how almost fall apart tender it is. 
I really like roast, because I can brown it and stick it in the oven, and then not be stuck in the kitchen watching over things until it's done.  I feel really good when Don comes in the door, and tells me he could smell the yummy roast before he came into the house.  It pleases me to please him!
I have several of my Dad's old cast iron pots.  I love them because they are hand hammered, and have been sized so many times, they are easy to cook  in and clean.  I have one big skillet, that must have been used for chicken frying, or such.  Not quite as deep as a dutch oven, but wider.  That is what I use for pot roast. 
It is a beautiful thing to go to the oven and pull out a roast bubbling in rich gravy and nestled with tender meat flavor infused potatoes. 


Pot Roast and Potatoes

2 T olive oil
1 3 lb (about) chuck roast
4 potatoes peeled quartered longways
1 onion peeled and cut in wedges
2 C beef stock
3 heaping T cornstarch
10 cloves peeled garlic
2 fresh bay leaves
1 stalk fresh rosemary

Salt and pepper roast on both sides.  Make slits in the meat and insert the garlic cloves on both sides.  In a large dutch oven or chicken fryer (oven safe),  brown both sides of the roast in oil.  Remove to a plate.   In the measuring cup, whisk together the beef stock and cornstarch until it is a slurry.  Add to the pan and with a spatula, scrape up the browned bits.  Turn off the burner, and add the roast and vegetables back in.  Tuck a couple bay leaves down into the broth, and top the roast with a whole sprig of rosemary.  Cover and bake at 310*F for two and a half to three hours.