Monday, October 22, 2012

Marsala Mushroom Cream Sauce over Beer Braised Beef over Mashed Potatoes

Made this dish last week. It was awesome! A hit with the entire family. Such perfect comfort food for chillier weather. Doesn't it just look comforting?

This recipe is assembled in 3 parts. I took the recipe from the Mushroom Channel, but made some changes. 

Beer Braised Beef

1 (2 1/2 lb) boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 2-3 inch chunks.
1/2 c flour
4 Tbsp veg oil
2 med yellow onions, halved & thinly sliced
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 (12 oz) bottles of lager beer
3 beef bouillion cubes
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 6in sprig rosemary

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Season beef generously with salt & pepper and place in a ziplock bag with added flour. Seal and shake until the beef until each piece is dredged and coated in flour. Add 3 Tbsp of oil to a large heavy duty pot and heat over med-high heat. Brown the beef on all sides, then transfer to a plate. Add remaining tablespoon of oil to pot and add onions, cook for 20 minutes until soft and slightly carmelized. Stir in balsamic vinegar, beef and boulion (*I used broth). Bring to a boil, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom. Add beef and juices back to the pot and give everything a good stir. *Cover pot with a lid and place in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. (*Instead of placing in the oven, I put it in the crockpot on low and left it for 4-5 hours. It came out perfect.)

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes
2 lbs yukon gold potatoes, washed and quartered
1/2 c butter, sliced
3/4 c buttermilk

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, add potatoes and cook for 20 minutes until fork tender. Carefully strain and place in large bowl. Add butter and allow it to melt. Stir in the buttermilk. Using potato masher, carefully mash until creamy. Salt and pepper to taste.

(*This is what they recommended. I made regular mashed potatoes. I love to make mine from baked potatoes, so I baked the potatoes while the beef was cooking in the morning. Then I scooped and made the mashed the potatoes with butter and milk. I covered them and reheated at dinner time.)

Marsala Mushroom Cream Sauce

2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp oil
8 oz cremini mushrooms
8 oz button mushrooms
3/4 c marsala wine
1/2 c heavy cream
fresh thyme, salt and pepper

In a large skillet, heat butter and oil. Add sliced mushrooms and saute 3-4 minutes. Add marasala wine and cook 5 minutes. Stir in heavy cream and thyme. Reduce the heat to med and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To serve: Layer in a bowl - mashed potatoes, beef, sauce. It sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't... and it is SO worth it. It was decadently delicious! 

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Recipe request: Jambalaya

Maureen, I can’t find Michael’s Jambalaya recipe anywhere? Would you (would he) mind sharing it here where we can archive it?

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Death By Chocolate - Choc Mousse Help

Hi All:

For the Dunican family Death by Chocolate Recipe, I have always used a box mix for the Chocolate Mousse layer. Unfortunately, I have had a really hard time finding it since we moved to PA. In NY it used to be with the pudding mixes or in the baking aisle. I can't find it with either here. The last time I made it I had to use something totally different. (I am not a fan of using pudding in my DbyC). I am bringing DbyC to a party in a few weeks and started looking around for it already because I remembered having trouble and again, I am not finding it in the stores around here. Has anyone else had trouble finding it near them? Is there another place I should be looking for it? I'm wondering if it is a local thing, or if the chocolate mousse in the box is no longer readily available. Would love to hear if you all have had a similar experience. 

Maybe I'll stock up on it next week when we are in NY...

Thanks,

Reg