I've been promising this recipe for a while now. Honestly, I feel tired just thinking about it. Not because it's particularly challenging, but because I made it for the Brooklyn Beer Experiment and had to serve 350 "bites." That's a lot of beef and whole lotta potatoes, trust me. So in the month since I've been recovering, I haven't felt much like rehashing it for the old blog. But a promise is a promise, and I've got pictures to post so I might as well get down to it.
The cook-off theme was food made using beer, and my path was shaped by practical considerations as well as some research into beery recipes. The idea of a roast appealed to me because I could make it fairly easily and it would keep well over Sterno for a few hours during the contest. Same for the mashed potatoes. I experimented with a few smaller cuts of beef and found that an ale worked best for the braising, while Guinness gave the gravy a deep, stouty richness. Use your favorite mashed potato recipe here and add just enough horseradish to give it a little bite. Don't skimp on the butter & half-n-half.
Stout! Stout! Let it Ale Out!
Ale-braised Beef with Horseradish Mashed Potatoes & Guinness Gravy
For the roast:
1 3-4 pound beef roast
coarse salt & freshly ground pepper
4 slices thick cut bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 large onion, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 12 oz. bottle ale (I used Brooklyn India Pale Ale)
2 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 bay leaf
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Pat the roast dry with paper towels and season with coarse salt & pepper on all sides. Place a dutch oven over medium heat and add bacon. Cook, stirring frequently until fat is rendered and bacon is getting crisp. With a slotted spoon, remove bacon to several layers of paper towels. Pour off (and save,) all but about 1 tablespoon of bacon fat from the dutch oven. Add the roast and cook until browned on all sides about 10-12 minutes total. Remove the meat to a platter.
Add a bit of bacon fat to the pan if needed, along with the onion and mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally until slightly browned and softened, about 6-8 minutes. Return the roast to the pan along with any accumulated juices. Add beer, stock, coriander and bay leaf and bring to a simmer over high heat. Cover and cook in the oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until a fork slides into the meat with little resistance.
Remove the meat to a platter & tent with foil. When cooled a bit, strain the braising liquid into a glass measuring cup and reserve the solids.
For the gravy:
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup flour
1 cup Guinness
braising liquid from the roast (plus extra beef stock depending on how much gravy you want)
reserved solids
salt & pepper
Combine the braising liquid and Guinness in a pan and heat until boiling, then reduce heat to low. In a separate heavy bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat until foam subsides. Add flour and whisk until completely incorporated. Cook, whisking constantly for a minute or two. Begin adding the hot liquid from the other pan in small amounts, whisking constantly. Cook for about 5 minutes stirring frequently until thickened. If you want your gravy to be exceptionally rich and thick, process some of the reserved solids in a blender with a little bit of stock. Add this to your gravy until you achieve the desired consistency. The ground coriander and mushrooms will really give a nice flavor boost.
To serve: slice the roast and layer over potatoes. Top with the Guinness gravy and if you like, a squirt of this horseradish mustard sauce from Chow.com.
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