Beef Burgundy

We made a trip to Minnesota for Thanksgiving, which by the way I am very proud of our little Stella. She was such a good baby flying for the first time and didn't fuss at all. While we were there visiting my husband's family, his tia Cindy Blaha had a gathering for us at her house. There was a lot of food, but to me the most memorable was the beef bourgogne. The meat was tender and the sauce just right. I found this Crock-pot recipe from America's Test Kitchen and it's actually quite simple and it doesn't have too many ingredients. I think the hardest part of this recipe is the waiting!

A tip about this recipe is to make sure to use the low setting on your slow cooker; the stew will burn on the high setting. Serve with boiled potatoes (the traditional accompaniment), mashed potatoes, buttered egg noodles, or over toasted French bread.

INGREDIENTS (serves 6 to 8)

• 8 ounces bacon , chopped
• 4 pounds beef stew meat (preferably chuck)
• 1 large onion , chopped fine
• 2 carrots , peeled and chopped fine
• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 1/2 cups Pinot Noir
• 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 tablespoons Minute Tapioca
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
• 1 package white mushrooms, sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook bacon in large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel-lined plate and refrigerate. Pour half of bacon fat into small bowl; set skillet with remaining bacon fat aside.
2. Dry beef thoroughly with paper towels. Season beef with salt and pepper; place half of beef in slow cooker insert. Heat skillet containing remaining bacon fat over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook remaining beef in single layer until deep brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer browned beef to slow cooker insert.
3. Add reserved bacon fat to now-empty skillet and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion, carrots, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until vegetables begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomato paste and stir until beginning to brown, about 45 seconds. Transfer mixture to slow cooker insert.
4. Return now-empty skillet to high heat and add 1 1/2 cups wine, chicken broth, and soy sauce. Simmer, scraping up brown bits, until pan bottom is clean, about 1 minute. Transfer wine mixture to slow cooker insert.
5. Stir bay leaves and tapioca into slow cooker insert. Set slow cooker on low, cover, and cook until meat is fork-tender, about 9 hours. About halfway through the cooking, add the sliced mushrooms.
6. When ready to serve, discard bay leaves and stir in reserved bacon. Bring remaining 1 cup wine to boil in large skillet over high heat and simmer until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Stir reduced wine and parsley into stew and adjust seasonings. Serve.

Czech Beef Goulash

One of my dreams is to open a Czech style pub here in San Diego that serves authentic Czech food and beers, but before anything, I need to learn to cook Czech foods--and I know nothing about bohemian foods. So, I've been searching for recipes and I found this one in one of my cookbooks. Although goulash is actually more Hungarian, the Czech do have their own version. What I'm missing in this recipe are the dumplings, which I still have to learn how to make them (I did make them but they didn't turn out so good). If you have a good Czech dumpling recipe, please send it my way.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 lb stew beef or boneless bottom round steaks, cut in 1-inch cubes
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour + more for dredging
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 4-5 small new potatoes, cut in 1/2-inch rounds
• 2 2/3 cups beef broth
• 1 ½ cups low-sodium chicken stock or water
• 1 cup tomato puree
• sour cream (for garnish)

DIRECTIONS

Season beef with salt and pepper, then dredge the beef in flour and shake off any excess.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, brown the beef on all sides, making sure not to crowd the pan and set aside.

Add more oil to the skillet (if needed) and heat. Add the onion and bell pepper, reduce the heat to medium, and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining flour, garlic, paprika, and caraway and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Place the potato rounds in the bottom of a 3 ½-quart slow cooker. Add the beef and vegetables. Pour in the broth, chicken stock or water and tomato puree. Cover and cook on low until the beef is tender, 6-7 hours. Serve with sour cream and don't forget the authentic Czech piva!

Kielbasa Stew

Every day I love my Crock-Pot® more and more. I guess I always had this notion that crock-pots were for crazy old ladies with lots of cats or for lazy cooks who didn't know how to cook, but now I see that crock-pots are the perfect kitchen appliance for everyone, including busy-bees like me! Anyhoo, I've created several crock-pot delights, one of which is this kielbasa stew which I like to serve over egg noodles or even bow-tie pasta. It's very important you use the leanest ground beef, and use turkey kielbasa, if you can find it. Don't forget the crusty bread...this is a total comfort food full of carbs! I love it!!!

INGREDIENTS (feeds an army of 4)

• 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 lb. Kielbasa sausage, sliced (use turkey kielbasa if you want to cut down on the grease)
• 28 ounce can whole tomatoes, undrained
• 9 ounces pkg. frozen French-cut green beans
• 6 oz. can pitted black olives (whole, drained)
• 1/2 C. red wine, such as Rosso or Chianti (I used 2-buck chuck, Charles Shaw)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, sliced in rings
• 1 green pepper, chopped (I used red bell pepper, instead)
• 1 t. dried basil crushed
• 1 t. dried oregano crushed
• 1/2 t. dried thyme crushed
• 1/4 t. ground black pepper
• 1 lb. pasta of your choice
• parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

In a medium skillet, sauté ground beef until it's lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for about 10 minutes. **You do not want to add hot food into a cold crock-pot because it may cause the bowl to crack.

Once ground beef is cooled, add it to the crock-pot along with all the ingredients except the pasta and parmesan. Simmer on low for 6-8 hours.

When you are ready to serve, cook pasta according to package directions. Ladle kielbasa stew over pasta in large bowls. Top with parmesan cheese to garnish and serve yourself a nice glass of Chianti.