Buff Buggy Nyong

This month's rainy weather has been perfect for cooking in the crock pot, but with the new Remler menu project underway, I can't yet go back to turkey breast or pot roast. So earlier this week, I browsed the internet to find some different slow cooker recipes. During my search I found a swell new blog: A Year of Slow Cooking by Stephanie O'Dea. Now, here's some evidence that great minds think alike because like my project to see how many times I can cook dinner with no repeats, O'Dea wants to see if she can cook an entire year in a slow cooker. Actually, I think she's already met her goal because I saw some entries from 2008. But the recipes are still good, and I found a doozy:

Slow cooker Beef Bourguignon.

Now, by this time, most of us have already read and/or seen Julie & Julia, but trust me. I'm not invoking Julia Child (or Julie Powell) with this dish. I don't have that kind of ambition. If I did, I'd be cooking the stuff the good old fashioned way. Instead, I prefer the slow cooker way, where I just throw the ingredients into that trusted appliance and get about my day.

And today I needed that kind of recipe because Stephen and I were up at 6:00 am and on Tybee Island by 7:30 for the Critz Tybee Run (except that we walked). We met our friend Viviane there, and we finished that 5K in just under 48 minutes. Viviane even won first place in her age bracket! Congratulations, Viv!

Anyway, after an early morning 5K, I knew I would not want to spend 2 1/2 hours in the kitchen cooking dinner like I did last night with the curried chicken crepes. Slow cooker Beef Bourguignon was easy, different, and French.

As usual, I modified the recipe I found by adding mushrooms (Some other beef Bourguignon recipe I saw called for mushrooms, and that addition sounded tasty to me). So here's O'Dea's recipe, with mushrooms (and comments) added:

Ingredients
3 lb. beef roast or beef stew meat (I used beef stew meat)
6 slices uncooked bacon
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion sliced in rings
1 cup chopped carrots (I just used those baby carrots)
2 cups white mushrooms, washed and quartered
4 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
1 tbsp. herbs de provence
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper (Oops. I just remembered I forgot to put in the pepper)
1 tbsp. tomato paste
2 cups red wine (I used Cabernet Sauvignon)

Instructions:
Use a 6 quart slow cooker (Those are O'Dea's instructions. I think you should use whatever slow cooker you've got. Who's got more than one?). In the bottom of your stoneware, smear around the olive oil (Because I use Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners, this part was a little more difficult. I probably could have skipped that part). Then lay down 3 slices of bacon. Add sliced onion and garlic. Put the meat into the pot on top of the onion and garlic, and sprinkle on dried spices and herbs. Toss the meat to distribute the spices to all sides. Add tomato paste. Lay the other 3 slices of bacon on top of the meat, and throw in the carrots and mushrooms. Pour wine over the whole thing. Cover and let cook on low for 8-9 hours or on high for 4-5 hours, or until meat has reached desired tenderness. If you are using a roast, you may want to flip the meat about an hour before serving so more liquid is absorbed into the meat. You can also cut the meat into chunks and return it to the pot, if you would like more moisture to absorb.

O'Dea suggests serving this dish with mashed potatoes, but I served it with whole grain egg noodles and green peas.

And now that we've eaten it, honestly, I don't understand what all the fuss is about. Don't get me wrong. It's good. But I was expecting, I don't know, fireworks? A medley of flavor on my tongue? Savory goodness that made me exclaim, "How did I live 43 years before tasting this?"

Instead, I had beef stew.

Maybe it was because I forgot to add the pepper.

But it wasn't bad. In fact, Davis had two helpings--after he added salt. We all cleaned our plates. But Lawson said he preferred the "regular" mushrooms (which are the Green Giant button mushrooms in the jar). And Stephen and Davis said they like the "regular" pot roast better (which is the one I cook using Cambell's and Lipton soup mix).

The most fun about dinner was teaching my kids how to pronounce beef bourguignon. I wish I had recorded them. Lawson's still trying: "Buff. . .Buggy. . .nyong." He says it best when his mouth is full.