braised chuck roast

until i got a braising cookbook my wife would never any kind of chuck meat.
last night i made braised boneless chuck roasts (two pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches thick
with total weight about 6 lbs.

4 large portabella mushrooms, cliced 1/4 inch thick and then each piece cut in half
1/2 cup plus 4 tsps dry sherry
about 2 cups flour for dredging
salt and pepper
4 tbls butter
4 tbls oil
2 large yellow onions slicedabout 1/4 inch thick
1 1/2 tsps sweet hungarian paprika
1 tbls fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried
1/2 lemon
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 beef cubes dissolved in 2 cups water (i did this on my own as original recipe called
for chuck steaks)

set aside a roasting pan that will hold all the ingredients and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
dredge the roast in flour, shaking off excess.in a large fring pan over medium high heat melt 2 tbls butter and 2 tbls oil and sear roast, one at a time, until browned on both sides, about 4 minutes for each side.

remove roast and place in roasting pan. in the same fry pan over med high heat add 1 tbl butter and 1 tbl oil. when hot add the mushrooms and a little sant and pepper and cook until tender and just starting to brown. at first the mushrooms will give off liquid but it will soon evaporate. remove and palce in large bow.

add the last tbl butter and oil and saute the onions adding the thyme and paprika. when the onions soften add the 1/2 cup wine. stir to loosen any brown bits at bottom of pan.

when done add the mushrooms and onions to the roasting pan holding the roasts. place some onions and mushroom under the roasts and then pour the rest over them. cover tightly with foil and place in over for 2 1/2 hours.

remove roasts from pan and slice into 1/2 inch slices. add the remains of the pan into the fry pan again and bring to a boil. add the last of the wine, give the lemon a good squeeze and then add the heavy cream. stir until the mixture thickens. remove from heat and pour over meat and serve. i had corn and mashed potatoes along with a spring salad mix.

the meat comes out so tender and now my dw thinks that she would rather have chuck steaks braised the regular cuts baked or broiled.