French Pot Roast

Yesterday started with a short rain and cooler temperatures.  The fall weather was perfect for trying a new recipe in my beloved slow cooker.  This beef stew was the perfect meal for date night snuggled on the sofa watching a movie.

Here is my recipe, adapted from something I found on the internet.

Ingredients

3 strips bacon cut into strips
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
2 lb roast, excess fat removed, cut into 1" pieces
1/2 bottle dry red wine
2 cups low-sodium beef broth
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 bay leaves
1 package frozen pearl onions
4 small yukon gold potatoes, quartered (skin on)
1 cup carrots, peeled, cut into 1" pieces
1 cup frozen peas

Preheat a large skittet or non-stick saute pan over medium-high heat.  Cook the bacon until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crisp.  Remove bacon and set aside leaving fat in pan on the heat.

Combine flour, salt and pepper in a sealable plastic bag.  Working in batches, add the beef and coat well with flour mixture; remove from bag and shake off excess flour.  Add the pieces to the hot pan and cook until all sides are golden brown.

Remove the beef and add to slow cooker.  When all the beef has been browned, add 1 cup wine to the hot pan and scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.  Pour over beef, along with rest of the wine, the beef broth, tomato paste, bay leaves, bacon pieces, carrots and potatoes.

Set the slow cooker to high and cook for 4 hours until the beef is very tender.  In the last 30 minutes of cooking, add the pearl onions.  A few minutes before serving add the peas and simmer for a few minutes to cook through.  Discard the bay leaves.

Serve the stew by itself or over egg noodles with a good ladle of broth.  Don't forget a piece of good french bread to mop up the broth. This recipe tastes even better the next day.  My kids loved it for lunch today!