I don’t know if it’s the phase of the moon or the alignment of planets this week but my toddler has taken “spirited” to a whole new level. If she’s not sitting square in my lap with my full undivided attention, it’s truly life-threatening and you would think she was in some kind of mortal danger. It’s a good thing she is this cute. And I hate to think how things will be when her little brother turns up in a few months.
In saying that, babies are only babies for such a short part of their lives. I firmly believe in taking full advantage of the clinginess for now. I will look back in a few years when she’s an eye-rolling, hair-flipping teenager and hold on to these moments.
On days like this, preparing Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon is out of the question. But what if I still want to eat it? I improvise and make a slow cooker version. For the trade-off in sheer labour involved, it still produces a very hearty and yummy tasting outcome that I am very happy with.
Start with a rump or chuck roast cut into cubes and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Prepare some onion and carrots and herbs (thyme and bay leaf) to go in the slow cooker.
Brown the beef in a skillet with a bit of bacon grease or butter.
Throw beef, vegetables and herbs into the slow cooker and pour in wine, beef stock and some tomato paste.
6-8 hours later, check the beef. You want it to be fork-tender. At this point you can also saute up some mushrooms. I used Julia Child’s sautéed mushrooms but also added some garlic for extra flavor.
Stir mushrooms into the slow cooker at the end. You can now either season with salt and pepper and serve or optionally, transfer to a large saucepan to reduce the liquid. Correct seasoning with salt and pepper and thicken with some tapioca flour before serving.
Enjoy with a salad or your favorite Paleo-friendly starch!
You’ll need:
- 2 lb chuck roast or rump roast, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 fresh bay leaf
- 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 onion, coarsely chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 lb of mushrooms
- butter or bacon grease for frying
- 3 TBSP tomato paste
- 3 cups of young red wine like a pinot noir
- 1-2 cups of beef stock
- Optional – 2 TBSP tapioca flour to thicken sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- Season beef pieces with salt and pepper and brown in a skillet
- Put beef, bay leaf, thyme, onion, carrots, garlic in slow cooker
- Add wine and enough beef stock to cover beef and stir in tomato paste
- Cook for 6-8 hours on LOW until beef is fork-tender
- Towards the end of cooking, saute the mushrooms in butter or bacon grease (you can add garlic here too)
- Add mushrooms to slow cooker.
- Optionally, you can now transfer the beef and sauce to a large saucepan on the stove top to reduce the liquid. Add the tapioca flour to thicken the sauce
- Correct seasoning with salt and pepper and serve
I can’t wait to try this tomorrow. Do you think I can use potato starch in place of the tapioca starch?
Yes, Potato starch works just as well as tapioca starch 🙂 Enjoy, Vicki!
This was not only easy, it was delicious. Hubby really liked it. Carrots and onions came from our farmer’s market, this morning. Instead of the tapioca flour for thickening, I used arrowroot. We have leftovers for Sunday dinner. Definitely, a do again. Thanks.
Shelley, I am so glad to hear that 🙂 Hooray for good food!
Made this and it was nice success! My only question is what is young Pinot noir? I picked up a bottle of the wine and the taste was strong. Also, what sub for thyme? Thank you for sharing!
Pinor Noir is a type of wine grape. It is very mild which is why I like it. It is similar to bourguignon (a French wine) but is more readily available here in America.
You can basically pick up any red wine – just ask the store for something “young” and mild
This dish is traditionally made with thyme but you can always skip it if you don’t have it on hand. Otherwise, rosemary is a lovely herb as well for red meat.