elaine wrote:

> As per instructions, I made a dry spicy rub which I coated the blade roast
> with and let sit in the fridge overnight. Seared the roast for a couple of
> minutes on each side, then removed from heat. Fried up some onions and
> celery, added a little bit of red wine, brown sugar and garlic. Put them in
> a roasting pan below the roast. Cooking at 300 degrees, this was supposed
> to be ready in 3 hours.
>
> It's now been 4 hours - the roast is tough, tough, tough. Now if I kept it
> in for another 3 hours or even perhaps turn the oven off and leave overnight
> will it become more tender?

Your roast is both undercooked and overcooked. Blades are chuck cuts
and are tough. They need gentle, moist cooking for a long time to
break down the connective tissue. It's overcooked compared to a
dry-roasted piece of meat that would be used for a traditional
uncovered roast. But it's undercooked for a moist-cooked or braised
piece of meat.

You need to just do more of what you've already done. Cook it longer,
maybe another couple hours. Make sure there's enough liquid - maybe an
inch or so in the bottom of the pan.

Pastorio