Crockpot Boeuf Bourguignon

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Alicia here with another ancestry food post. This year my family is choosing a different country from our ancestry and making one meal a week at home from that country. We choose the countries based on our family trees, and also our DNA results. We had our DNA tested with Ancestry and got the results back. There were some things we expected but also some surprises! It's been really fun doing this experiment and getting to know our ancestors through food. If you'd like to do this same experiment, Ancestry has the kits on sale right now! It's so easy (though slightly gross), all it requires is spitting in a tube and mailing it back to the company.

This month's country is France. So far we have made Gratin Dauphinois, Piperade, & Flammekueche. This week we are making a classic dish that's been around since medieval times, Boeuf Bourguignon. 

First made by peasants, this beef stew is a dish I'm sure my ancestors have tried.

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Boeuf Bourguignon

Traditionally made with Burgundy wine, has a much deeper flavor than your regular beef stew. I have made this before and my husband loved it, so when we decided to do France this month he requested it again. 

Last time I used cooking wine, but I couldn't find any in stores this time. I didn't want to buy a whole bottle of wine because I don't have many dishes I would use it in, so I substituted grape juice, red wine vinegar, and beef stock for my recipe. So if you are cooking for some one who has liver problems or is sensitive to alcohol, this would be a great recipe for you. If you do use wine, use one less cup of stock and omit the grape juice and red wine vinegar, using the wine to deglaze the pan.

I also used baby carrots because it's fast and easy. I also love the look they give to the stew and the fact that they get soft without being mushy.

I love this stew, the first time I made it, it was very labor intensive. But with the crockpot it was so easy. We are adding this to our menu meals. I would wager that my stew is much closer to what the peasants of medieval times made than the bourgeois that made it later. But it's still so delicious, it's no wonder this meal has been around so long! If you don't have a crockpot, what are you waiting for? It's my favorite thing in my kitchen. It makes me so happy to know dinner is slowly cooking away while I'm attending to other things. Especially because my kids are more fussy and needy in the evenings when I'm trying to make dinner. In the morning while they are happily playing I can get dinner started by just tossing everything in the slow cooker. I lovemine.

Let me know if you give it a try! It's pretty easy and so good.