Let’s face it, not everyone has the time and patience of Mrs. Julia Child. This beef bourguignon recipe is meant to bring the magical flavour combination of red wine, mushrooms & wagyu beef to your table in a fraction of the time her world-famous recipe takes. Plus, using a slow cooker gives you that “set it and forget it” convenience we all appreciate on a busy weekend.
Ingredients
- 5 lbs Bronson Beef Co. stewing beef
- 1 lb button or cremini mushrooms, halved (or quartered if very large)
- 8 rashers of bacon
- 6 large carrots, chopped in to chunks
- 2 medium onions, roughly diced
- 1 bottle of red wine (something bold, but nothing fancy)
- 2 cups beef broth
- 5 tbsp of flour
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- extra-virgin olive oil
- kosher salt
- black pepper
Directions
- Cut bacon in to 1″ chunks and fry in a large pan until crisp. Throw the cooked bacon in your slow cooker, careful to leave as much of the bacon grease in the pan as possible.
- Turn up the heat a bit and sauté half of your carrots and onions in the bacon grease until they start to caramelize (about 5 minutes). Throw all of the carrots and onions in to the slow cooker, careful to leave as much of the bacon grease in the pan as possible.
- Pat the stewing beef dry, sprinkle with flour, salt, and pepper, and toss in a bowl or large zip lock bag until the beef is well coated. Working in small batches of 1lb beef to 1 tbsp of flour usually produces the best results.
- Brown the beef in the bacon grease for two minutes, flip, and brown the other side for another two minutes. Feel free to add extra-virgin olive oil along the way if you need to. The beef and bacon grease now go in to the slow cooker
- Pour about half the bottle on wine in to your hot pan and use a spatula to scrap up the little burned bits from bottom of the pan. When the wine has reduced by half, pour it into the slow cooker and repeat the process with the remaining wine.
- Add your beef broth, tomato paste, thyme, and bay leaves to the slow cooker. Add additional black pepper if you like.
- Put the slow cooker on low and set it for 8 hours. You can do 4 hours on high instead but the results aren’t as good.
- About 15 minutes before serving, fry the mushrooms in extra-virgin olive oil and butter on low heat until lightly browned (about 10 minutes). Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute. Transfer mushrooms to the slow cooker.
If the gravy isn’t thick enough for your tastes you may wish to separate & simmer the gravy on the stove until the desired thickness is achieved, then return it to the slow cooker and serve.
Serving Suggestions
Consider mashed potatoes a must. A fresh loaf of crusty bread would also be a welcome addition. You’re going to want to soak up every bit of the gravy, trust us.