Cooking does not actually excite me. I generally prefer to cook sweets or desserts rather than a meal. Mainly, I guess, due to the fact that everyone is hungry and I don't have it ready yet and I feel rushed to get it all on the table. And by the time I do, I've usually rushed so much that I am a little irritated, and I all but dare anybody to say anything negative about the meal. (There is always one brave soul at my table that feels it's ok to voice their dislike of what is in front of them.)
But since I have begun to slow down my pace of life, I am finding a new joy in slow foods. Foods that are prepared slowly and take a really long time to cook. It makes you more intentional about the whole process. For starters, if you want to make slow food, you absolutely MUST plan ahead and start your supper meal in the morning. Because it can't be thrown together at the last minute. And then there is the fact that, once it's cooking, you smell it all day and anticipate the slow time around the table with family or friends just enjoying it all. No rushing allowed. Yes, it takes a little prep work, but it is so very worth it!
Yesterday was Sunday. Normally, we'd be at church. But after the busy week of kids camp we all had, we just needed to slow down and enjoy a quiet day at home. It was a perfect day for slow cooking. So follow along and imagine the amazing smells coming from my kitchen and let your mouth salivate!
I picked up this cookbook on the sale rack at our local bookstore for $5. SCORE! It has some really great recipes in it that I've already tried (mainly the dessert section), but there was one I was saving for a special day. It's called Burgundy Beef Stew. And yesterday was that day! My smiley girl wanted to help, so yay for that! I love that she wants to cook! (Trying to work myself out of a job here!)
First, you start with a big, black, cast iron dutch oven. If you don't have one, no worries! Any large cooking pot with a lid will work fine. But if you do have one of these babies, the smell and taste are even better, more rustic.
Start with some BACON! We fried up 5 slices that my lovely assistant cut into small pieces. But if you want to add more, go for it! Bacon makes everything better! Fry it up nice and crisp, and then take it out of your pan and move it to a bowl for later use. Leave the bacon fat in the skillet.
After you take out the bacon, add 2 Tablespoons of butter to the bacon fat and let it melt and sizzle and smell amazing.
I washed and took the stems off of a whole package of portobello mushrooms. These are so much meatier and more flavorful than regular button mushrooms.
The recipe called for pearl onions, but I don't really love those and didn't have any on hand anyways. So I chopped up a yellow onion in chunks to replace those. Also, we peeled and chopped 2 carrots.
Throw the 'shrooms in the pot of fat and butter, and cook them for about 3 min. Then toss in the carrots and onions and cook for another 7 min.
After the veggies have cooked, take them out and add them to the bowl of bacon for later. Throw another 2 Tablespoons of butter in the skillet and let it melt and sizzle.
At this point, my sweet girl learned how to cut about 4lbs of beef (roast, actually) into cubes. I was busy trying to make sure she didn't cut her finger off with the gigantic knife I gave her, and thus forgot to take a picture. My bad. Just know, it was a fabulous mound of beef chunks, a carnivores dream come true!
We wanted to sear the meat before really getting it going. So I dumped all the chunks in the hot butter and fat, and we "fried" the meat quickly. Searing it first gives each bite a nice brown crunchiness that you don't get from just simmering it. It only took about 5 extra minutes (because you want to brown it quickly on high!), and it was absolutely worth the extra time!
After searing, sweet girl added 2 Tablespoons of flour and stirred it in. This makes a delicious gravy-like liquid all over your meat.
We poured in a whole bottle of dry red wine (we used pinot noir), and it turned the pot of liquid a beautiful purply color. BEST*SMELL*EVER!
Toss in some fresh chopped garlic (or some from a jar if you don't have fresh) and some beef broth.
Cover that baby up and let it simmer for an hour. You can stir it occasionally if you want, but it doesn't really need it. Personally, I just wanted to look at it and smell it, so I stirred it several times while it was cooking.
After an hour, add in the bowl of bacon and veggies we took out earlier. Give it a stir, and cover it back up to cook for another hour.
While this amazingness was cooking on my stove, sweet girl and I peeled and cooked several potatoes. And then I showed her how to make homemade mashed potatoes. They were heavenly and well worth the time.
When everything was finished, it was time to plate it. We piled a big spoonful of potatoes in the center and loaded it up with the beef stew. This is the finished product. Yes, it was perfectly amazing! All of my family loved it! And yay for me, there is enough left over for supper tonight! Cannot wait for that!
So often, we are in such a rush with our daily lives that we don't have time to make great meals for our families. We just grab whatever is in the cabinet and throw something together. But I encourage you to slow down, build in some time, and give this recipe a try! Make it with your kids, cook it with your spouse, or just spend some quiet time in the kitchen enjoying cooking by yourself. I promise you, it will be time well spent!
Burgundy Beef Stew
5 slices bacon, chopped
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
16oz Portobello mushrooms
1 yellow onion, chunked
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
3-4lbs beef, cut into cubes
2 Tbsp flour
3C dry red wine
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1C beef broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Mashed potatoes, for serving
Heat a large cast-iron dutch oven over med-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp. Remove bacon pieces and set aside for later.
Add 2 Tbsp butter to the bacon fat. Once melted, add the mushrooms and cook for 3 min. Season with salt and pepper. Add the onion and carrot and cook about 7 min more, until veggies are tender. Remove veggies from pot, and add them to the bacon pieces for later use.
Add 2 Tbsp butter to pot and let melt. Add the beef, tossing and cooking until brown and crisp on all sides. Sprinkle the beef with 2 Tbsp of flour and cook for 3 min. Add the red wine, garlic, and beef broth.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 1 hour. Add bacon and veggies back to the pot, cover, and cook an additional 30 min to 1 hour.
Serve hot over mashed potatoes.
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