Instant Pot Braised Beef with Mushrooms and Gravy

January 25, 2019

Someday, soon, the sun will shine, and the air won't hurt your face.

Until then, I've been making this giant pot of good, BROWN comfort food. I love a good pot roast (grass-fed chuck, potatoes, all simmered in gravy), but I don't love the saturated fat and calorie count. I swapped SLICED eye of round for chuck. Good beef flavor, a LOT less fat. It does NOT have the succulent, melty quality of a well prepared chuck roast, but it is still very good, and better for you. If anyone has any tips on tenderizing the meat further, I'm all ears. Don't get me wrong, the thin cut of meat and pressure cooking leaves the eye of round tender enough to eat with a spoon, its just different, akin, texture wise, to a lean slice of brisket.

Side note, instead of potatoes, I've been serving this over oven roasted turnips, carrots and rutabagas.

Also, you should eat this in your jammas, on your couch, while watching netflix. STAY WARM YOU GUYS.

Yield:
Serves 2 (probably could/should serve more... but I eat a lot) 8 sp per serving.

Ingredients:

8 oz 1/4 inch sliced eye of round, trimmed of all fat (4 steaks)
salt and fresh cracked pepper
8 oz sliced white mushrooms
1 TBS olive oil
1.5 onions, diced fine (220 g)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 TBS red wine or sherry
1.5 tsp Better Than Bouillon beef flavor
1 cup hot water
1 bay leaf
1 TBS butter
1 TBS flour

Directions:

1) Unwrap meat and season meat with salt and pepper. I usually do this before I prep my other ingredients.

2) Add bouillon concentrate to hot water to dissolve.

3) Using the sauté function in your instant pot, Sauce onions and mushrooms in the oil until golden.

4) Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

5) Splash in your wine, scraping up any brown bits, then pour in your bouillon, bay leaf, and add the meat.

6) Cancel sauté function, seal pot and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes.

7) Allow to natural release for 20-40 minutes.

8) Remove bay leaf and cool. Place in a covered container and chill for 4-24 hours.

9) Skim off fat. Strain and reserve solids. Heat the liquid in a sauce pan to boiling. Boil 2-5 minutes until liquid is reduced to about 2/3 of the original volume.

10) In a large skillet, melt the butter over low heat until foaming. Sprinkle flour over the top and stir, toasting the mixture until golden and fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute.

11) Starting with a tablespoon of liquid at a time, whisk the hot broth into your flour mixture. At some point it may get a little clumpy, just keep whisking. Continue the process, gradually increasing the volume of liquid until all of the liquid is incorporated. Simmer 2-5 minutes until volume of gravy is reduced to 2/3 or gravy thickens. Don't worry if it looks a little thin. It will thicken as it cools. Don't worry if there are lumps. They are tasty.