Mushroom Lovers Braised Beef with Horseradish Mascarpone Sauce

Talk of joy: there may be things better than beef stew and baked potatoes and home-made bread – there may be.
Ray Stannard Baker

Braised Beef with Horseradish sauce

Stormy weather is perfect for braised beef dishes, pot roasts and stews are comfort foods that can be easily adapted according to what you want in the way of ingredients, but for today I am making a mushroom rich braised beef adapted from Curtis Stone. Some time ago I discovered porcini dust and always have a little spice jar on the shelf to add to several beef pork, and chicken dishes so before you think of the cost of porcini mushrooms consider the bulk mushroom options in many stores and simply put them into a grinder and grind to a dust, store in a sealed jar and remember a little goes a long way in a recipe.

For this recipe I’m used up large chuck pieces originally intended for stew instead of starting with 1 large piece of chuck, but still cooked to pull apart tenderness. To any leftover stew, I will add carrots and potatoes for a bit of a heartier meal. The nice flavorful tender braised beef goes well with roasted potatoes and Vichy carrots…

1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1 3-pound beef chuck roast, cut into 8 large chunks
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup dry white wine
3 cups low-sodium beef broth
1 pound white mushrooms, thickly sliced
4 shallots, sliced (was out of shallots, but sautéed pearl onions worked well for me)
8 garlic gloves, chopped
*optional small sprig of fresh rosemary
1 bunch fresh thyme

For the Horseradish Mascarpone:
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1/3 cup finely grated fresh horseradish
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 300°F.

Using a clean coffee grinder or spice mill, grind the porcini mushrooms into a powder.

Season the beef liberally with salt and pepper. Heat a Dutch oven or other wide ovenproof pot over high heat with the olive oil then add the beef and cook, turning the meat occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until well-browned on all sides. Add the wine and stir to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the broth, mushrooms, shallots, garlic, thyme and porcini powder, and bring to a simmer.

Cover the pot and place it in the oven. Braise the beef, turning the pieces of meat over halfway through the cooking, for 3 hours.

Uncover the pot and continue cooking the beef for about 1 hour, or until it is tender enough to pull apart with a spoon and the liquid has reduced by about one-third. Discard the thyme stems.

For the Horseradish Mascarpone, in a small bowl, mix the mascarpone, horseradish, heavy cream and lemon juice until blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
To serve, transfer the beef to four shallow serving bowls, spoon the mushrooms and braising liquid over and serve topped with a dollop of the horseradish mascarpone.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/porcini-braised-beef-58385788