Boeuf Bourguignon

I'm embarrassed that I'd never thought of a Crock Pot when making beef bourguignon in the past. This dish was MADE for the CP.

We were having Terry's mom over for dinner last night and we always like to have enough in the way of leftovers so that we can send some home with her. I mention this, as the quantity prepared would have served 6...not 3.

I started the process yesterday morning by dicing an onion and covering the bottom of the CP. I topped the onion with 3 medium carrots that had been cut into medium chunks.

A 2.75 pound chuck roast was cut into 1.5-2 inch chunks, patted dry, seasoned with salt & pepper and dredged in flour. The meat was browned (in batches) on all sides in a skillet with a few tablespoons of butter.

The browned meat was added to the CP, along with 1.5 cups of frozen pearl onions, 1 pound of mushrooms (cut in half) and 6 slices of bacon (uncooked and cut into postage stamp-sized pieces). I added 3 tablespoons of tomato paste and about 2 tablespoons of herbes de Provence to the ingredients in the CP.

1/2 can of beef broth and 3 tablespoons of flour were added to the meat-browning skillet, then simmered over medium heat for 3-4 minutes. After simmering, the liquid was poured over the contents of the CP. 2 cups of red wine was poured into the CP. On went the lid and I set the temperature on low and programmed dinner to cook for 9 hours (it would have been fine after 10, too).

Et voila! When we arrived home from work, the house smelled exactly as if I had used Julia Child's traditional recipe. I reduced the liquid in the CP and served the beef with buttered noodles and a Caesar salad. Very tasty, indeed.