Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon

When I was a kid, my mom used to make a beef stew with potatoes, carrots, green beans, and stewed tomatoes a crock pot.  I never liked it growing up, but at some point in time, our standard family beef stew switched over to beef bourguignon.  This was probably some time in my adolescent years when I had stopped eating red meat of any sort.  But after high school, I started eating meat again, and actually occasionally enjoying it.  This dish was pretty standard in our household and is definitely a reminder of home for me.  My family has always cooked it in the oven along the lines of Julia Child's recipe, but in a college kitchen and on a weekday, when I don't want to be in the kitchen for several hours, a slow cooker is an easier option.  Our family tends to serve it over egg noodles, but all to the friends I made it for said they served it over potatoes.

Beef Bourguignon

• 3 - 4 pounds of stew meat (or any beef roast chopped in to bite size pieces)
• 1 pound of carrots
• 1 pound of mushrooms
• 3 medium yellow onions
• 4 slices of bacon
• about 1/4 cup flour
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• salt
• pepper
• 2 cups of red wine (about half a bottle)

Directions:

Peal and chop carrots in to bite size pieces.  Clean mushrooms with a damp cloth and chop.  Chop onion.  (I like to prep everything the night before so I have less to do in the morning.)  Chop the bacon pretty finely.  Add half of it to a large frying pan and brown the beef.  (This will most likely need to be done in a few batches since you do not want to crowed your pan.)  Put this into the crock pot.  In the same pan, add the rest of the bacon and sauté the vegetables.  (Depending on the size of your pan, this might also need to be done in a couple of batches.)  Add the vegetables to the crock pot.

Mix in flour, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and thyme.  Add red wine until it is not quite covering the mixture.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  About an hour before serving,  check the sauce.  If the sauce is not as thick as you would like it, stir in a couple extra tablespoons of flour and cook on high for an hour uncovered.

- Sophie