Recipe from Slow Cooker Cooking by Lora Brody

Beef Bourguinon
(Yield: 6 servings)
Cooking Time:
12 hours on LOW or 6 to 8 hours on HIGH
Slow Cooker Size: 5 1/2-quart oval

Top chef Brody turns her skills to the slow cooker. She proves how versatile and indispensable this appliance is, offering new ways to braise, stew, caramelize vegetables, and bake crusty bread. These contemporary recipes include instructions for converting stove top recipes, and tips for using it as a microwave alternative.

Slow Cooker Cooking
By Lora Brody
William Morrow & Company

Ingredients:

For the Marinade

1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
3 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
4 cups dry red wine
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 sprigs fresh thyme
3 pounds boneless chuck roast, cut into 3/4-inch cubes

For the Stew

4 to 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 ounces pancetta or thickly sliced bacon, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
8 ounces white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
16 small white onions, trimmed and peeled and left whole (see Note)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Wine from the marinade
1 cup low-sodium beef broth
1 bouquet garni (2 bay leaves, 3 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, and 4 sprigs fresh thyme, wrapped in cheesecloth and tied with a piece of twine)

Preparations:

This is not your mother's beef stew -- unless your mother used a slow cooker and really good red wine. Browning the meat first is a crucial step that gives substantial taste to the finished dish.

To marinate the meat, place the carrot, garlic, wine, bay leaves, parsley, and thyme in a gallon-size resealable plastic bag or a large nonreactive bowl. Add the meat and seat the bag or cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 6 to 12 hours.

To make the stew, drain the meat and vegetables in a strainer set over a large bowl. Set the vegetables from the marinade aside in a bowl, and reserve the strained wine. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Brown the pancetta or bacon lightly, and place it in the insert of the slow cooker. Add more oil to the sauté pan, if necessary, and brown the reserved vegetables from the marinade. Place them in the slow cooker.

Dry the meat well with paper towels. Add 2 more tablespoons of the oil to the sauté pan over medium-high heat and brown the meat; you may have to brown it in batches so as not to crowd the pan. Transfer the meat to the insert. Put the mushrooms, onions, flour, minced garlic, pepper, salt, reserved wine, broth, and the bouquet garni in the insert. Cover and cook on LOW for 12 hours or on HIGH for 6 to 8 hours, until the meat and vegetables are tender when pierced with the tip of a small knife.

NOTE: To peel small onions easily, plunge them into boiling water for 10 to 15 seconds. Transfer them with a slotted spoon to a bowl of cold water. The skins will slip off when loosened with a small, sharp knife.