Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon

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As far as French cuisine goes, this classic Beef Bourguignon is a must make! Tender beef swimming in a rich wine sauce....perfect for Winter. There's nothing quite like a good braise for a cozy dinner. This recipe raises a simple beef stew to an art form! Bold flavors abound in this classic dish that you'll make again and again.

Beef Bourguignon is a beef stew where pieces of chuck are stewed with pearl onions, carrots, garlic, crispy mushrooms and herbs in a rich red wine sauce. I love to serve over spatzels or creamy mashed potatoes for the ultimate comfort food!

This is also a great dish to have for company during the Holidays! I like to make it up until putting it in the crockpot for traveling on a ski trip. It travels perfect and if traveling by car, throw in your crockpot!

 

 Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon 

6 slices bacon, coarsely chopped

3 lbs. Beef chuck roast cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup good red wine, I used Cabernet 

3 -5 cups Beef broth, I use Swanson

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1/4 cup flour

1 T garlic minced

6 sprigs fresh Thyme

2 Bay leaf

4 carrots peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 lb. button mushrooms, quartered or halved depending on size.

1 cup pearl onions

2 T parsley, chopped

Heat a large skillet over med high heat. Add bacon and cook until crispy. Remove to a plate/bowl and add the beef a small amount at a time. You want to crisp it, not cook it. Work in batches, moving the crisped beef chunks to a plate with the bacon. Season the beef as you go with salt and pepper.

Add the red wine to the pan and deglaze the pan, scraping up all the crispy bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Let it simmer until reduced in half and add the flour, whisking it in until smooth and flour is cooked. (this prevents lumps)

Slowly add the 3 cups beef broth and tomato sauce, whisking as you add to prevent any lumps.

Place the beef, bacon, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, carrots, mushrooms and pearl onions in the slow cooker, stir it all together. If needed add another 1-2 cups of beef broth to cover all the meat and vegetables.

Cover the pot and cook on low for 8 hours or until the meat is tender. My slow cooker has a keep warm option. I put it on low for 8 hours and it automatically goes to "keep warm". This allows me to be gone all day skiing or what ever.

Uncover the slow cooker. If needed you may need to thicken a bit more. At this point I make a "Buerre Manie'. A buerre manie is a French cooking technique of mixing equal parts of butter and flour until it forms a putty/paste. The purpose is that the flour is coated in butter fat, which allows it to mix right into the hot liquid, instead of clumping, like it would if you added the flour by itself. This is the method I use most often, as it is the easiest. I have even made balls of buerre manie and kept them in the freezer for just this purpose.

To serve you can scoop over mashed potatoes, butter noodles or spatzels and garnish with the chopped parsley. I usually serve a crusty bread to sop up the sauce and a green salad.

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As the year 2024, comes to a close, I want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you for being a part of this incredible journey which started in 2012. Whether you have tried a recipe, shared a post, or simply stopped by to read, your support means the world to me.

This year has been filled wth delicious adventures- from exploring new flavors to revisiting timeless classics- and my hope is, I have brought joy to your kitchen and your table.  Your comments, photo's, and feedback inspire me everyday, and I'm so grateful to share this passion for food with such a wonderful community.

Looking ahead, I'm excited to bring you even more mouthwatering recipes, helpful tips, and culinary stories. If there is anything you would like to see on the blog, feels free to share- I'd love to hear from you.

Wishing you and your loved ones a happy, healthy, and flavorful New Year. Here's to another year of cooking, creating, and sharing the joy of food together!

With gratitude

Joan Messenger/aka JJ

 

 

Black Eyed Pea soup

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I can't say that black eyed peas are my favorite bean, however, I wanted to fulfill my New Years requirement, so I came up with a delicious soup we could eat while watching football on New Years day.

This soup is incredibly delicious.  The Ro-Tel tomatoes brought the perfect amount of heat. This soup is very meaty and the black-eyed peas play a supporting role, bringing a pleasant complexity to the flavor. If you really like them I think that you could easily add another can without overwhelming the soup. If you have ground venison you could easily sub for the ground beef.

 I put a grainy bread with it, but, Cornbread or biscuits would be good too!

Black Eyed Pea Soup

1 lb. sausage links cooked, bulk sausage or polish sausage

1 lb ground beef

1 large onion, diced

4 cups of beef broth, I use Swanson

3 cans of black eyed peas(15 ounce)

1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes

1 can of Rotel (diced tomatoes with green chiles) I use mild, but you could really spice it up with "HOT"

4 beef boullion cubes

1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dark molasses

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp Cumin

Lots of freshly  ground pepper (to taste)

Heat a large sauce pan and saute the pork sausage, ground beef and the onion until the meat is cooked through. (If using cooked pork sausage do not add at this time, add after this is cooked) Drain off fat and pour in the beef broth, the black eyed peas, diced tomatoes, Rotel, beef bouillon cubes, molasses, Worchestershire sauce, garlic salt, salt, Cumin and the freshly ground pepper to taste. Stir over high heat, bringing to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and let simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

 

We are in Sunrise Park in Pinetop, Arizona for a little skiing  before the New Year. We had so much fun skiing yesterday! Last night we had a slow cooker Beef Bourguignon with spatzels when we got home from skiing. I promise to post that recipe soon! My daughter and son in law loved it....that to me is a big WIN!! 

I included a couple photo's of tha table on Christmas day and our appetizers!

I’m so grateful for your presence here this year, and I can’t wait to cook up more deliciousness with you and for you in 2025! ❤️ Happy New Year!