Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon with Sweet Potato Mash

Beef Bourguignon is a dish best enjoyed on a snowy winter evening. It’s hearty, in a stick-to-your-bones sort of way, but made with simple, real ingredients. This version comes together in your slow cooker, so you can leave it simmering while you’re out doing what you like to do! When you arrive back home, your kitchen will smell like a home-style French restaurant.

Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon with Sweet Potato Mash

Published December 7, 2015 by Caitlin Sherwood

   Print This Recipe

Serves: 4   |    Active Time: 30 active minutes

---

Ingredients:

For the Stew:

1 pounds beef stew meat, diced

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 white onion, diced small

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 stalks of celery, diced small

2 carrots. diced small

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3/4 cup beef broth

3/4 cup dry red wine

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced

1 sprig thyme

Salt & pepper

Minced parsley for garnish (optional)

For the Mash:

3 Hana sweet potatoes (these are white-fleshed sweet potatoes with tan skin)

1 teaspoon butter

2-3 tablespoons milk

Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat coconut oil in the bottom of a pot of medium heat (or an Instant Pot (affiliate link!) on the Sauté setting).
2. When oil glistens, add beef. Brown for 2-3 minutes on each side. Then, use tongs to remove beef from pot—set on a plate and set aside.
3. Add garlic, onion, carrots and celery to pan. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent.
4. Add flour, mixing to coat the onions, and then add tomato paste, mixing to incorporate. Allow to cook for about 2 minutes.
5. If using a regular pot, transfer mixture to a slow cooker. If using an Instant Pot, add beef back into pot. Add wine, broth, bay leaf, thyme and rosemary. Season with another pinch of salt, and several cracks of freshly ground black pepper. Place lid on pot, and set to slow cooker setting for 6 hours on Medium (On an Instant Pot, use the “Adjust” button to set to medium).
6. 15 minutes before you’re ready to eat, make the mashed sweet potatoes: prick sweet potatoes with a fork and heat in microwave until tender through.
7. Carefully remove potatoes from microwave (they’ll be very hot!), and chop off any hard ends. If you prefer, use a sharp knife to carefully peel away and discard the skin (I like to leave about half of the skin in my mash potatoes, and peel away the rest). Place potatoes in a large bowl, and mash with a potato masher or a large fork. Add butter and milk, and continue to mash until soft and only a few chunks remain. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
8. Serve: Scoop mash potatoes into serving bowls, then top with beef stew. Sprinkle with parsley, and enjoy hot.

Paleo Slow Cooker Beef Carnitas

View fullsize

I'm the kind of football fan that has no idea what teams are playing. You know the type. Every year, as February rolls around, I think to myself, The Super Bowl must be soon, right? And then I start thinking on a daily basis about what types of snacks we should have. When the big day comes, I'm the person that is 4 times more likely to get up for snacks during playtime than during a commercial break. 

I may not be able to keep the point system straight in my head, but here's one thing I do understand: snacks that score are just as important. 

View fullsize

Tacos are the ultimate party food — especially for football watching - because everyone can build their own plate just to their liking. Which just makes everyone happy. Tacos tend to do that.

Slow Cooker Beef Carnitas are also the ultimate solution for parties like this because they cook ahead of time in your slow cooker, so are never rushing to get food out when everyone start to arrive.

These carnitas are slow cooked with chili powder, cumin, garlic and onions. You can add extra heat, if you like spicy food, by adding a dash or two of cayenne, or serving your tacos with hot salsa.

My “secret” (not much of a secret, as I’m publishing it here) when slow cooking taco meat is finishing it under the broiler. This gives us crispy edges, as if you braised everything in a dutch oven for hours, though really you had your slow cooker plugged in (which is just SO much easier).

Pile tacos with avocado, pico de gallo, sliced jicama, cilantro, red onion, salsa, cheese… really what ever you like.

Whichever team you cheer for this weekend... I hope you eat well! 

View fullsize

Paleo Slow Cooker Beef Carnitas

Published January 28, 2015 by Caitlin Sherwood

   Print This Recipe

Serves: 4   |    Active Time: 4 hours

---

Ingredients:

1 pound beef chuck roast

1 tablespoon coconut oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 white onion, sliced 

1 tablespoon chili powder 

1/4 teaspoon cumin 

1/4 teaspoon ground paprika 

1/4 teaspoon black pepper 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

Pinch of ground cayenne (optional)

1 cup chicken or beef broth

To serve: corn tortillas, salsa, cilantro, avocado, cheese, tomatoes, red onion, etc.

Directions:

1. Heat coconut oil in a large pan (if your slow cooker has a sauté setting, you can use that). Place beef in Instant Pot and brown each, about 4 minutes on each side. Transfer beef to slow cooker pot if not already there.
2. Add garlic and sliced onion, along with chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, and broth. Place lid on slow cooker, and set timer to 4 hours on high.
3. After 4 hours, use tongs to transfer beef to a sheet pan. Use two forks to shred beef into bite-sized pieces. Turn oven to high “broil” setting and place sheet pan in oven. Allow to roast about 5 minutes, just until edges of meat begin to turn crisp (watch closely, the broiler is hot and food can burn quickly!)
4. Serve beef warm with tacos supplies for a create-your-own taco bar!

Paleo Pork Ragu with Grain-Free Garlic Bread

View fullsize

This Sunday, it snowed. It snowed the big soft flakes that float in the air for longer than normal. The world was a flurry of white before it melted away (not long after touching the warmer ground), and the chill in the air seemed to make everyone pull their slow cookers out of storage. No really--we had a potluck and the counter was lined with slow cookers! 

This pork shoulder, slow cooked in a savory tomato sauce spiced with fennel, oregano, thyme, and bay leaf was actually Oliver's dish. But it was so perfect for the snowy weather, and paired so well with my dish--the garlic bread- that I have to post them both! Hours before dinner started, the entire house was smelling like spicy marinara and garlic bread, and with grumbling tummies we refrained from starting without our guests (it was hard!). 

Have you tried making anything out of yuca root? Until a few months ago I had only eaten it steamed. Who knew that are only a bit of mashing transformed yuca into a pizza dough-like goop, that's sticky and get this--even tossable, so you can work on your pizza dough throwing skills!  Once the dough is ready, I just brush on some garlic-infused avocado oil and pop it in the oven. 

View fullsize

Do you know what I had forgotten? How glorious it is to dip a chunk of bread into a brothy, savory stew, lapping up the last drops like it's your job. 

Now, before you run away, thinking all paleo "breads" have way to many ingredients for me, just hear this one out. The bread technically only has three (yes THREE) ingredients. Are you ready for this one? 

Pork Ragu

1-1/2 pound boneless pork shoulder, trimmed

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 small white onion

4 cloves garlic

1/4 cup dry red wine

2 large carrots

1 24-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 cup bone broth

1 tablespoon fennel seed

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon rosemary

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon oregano

Black pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

1. Slice the onions, and sauté with the coconut oil in the bottom of a large pan. Mince the garlic and add it to the pan. 

2. Add the pork shoulder, and brown each side. Once the onions are starting to turn brown and the pork is browned, add the wine. Allow to simmer off. 

3. Transfer everything to your slow cooker. Add the bay leaf. Grind the other spices, adding them in, along with the tomatoes, salt, and broth. 

4. Dice the carrots, and add them. Give everything a final stir and cover the pot. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, until pork is tender and comes apart when pulled with a fork. Serve hot. 

Grain-Free Garlic Bread

2 pounds yuca root (also called cassava)

3 tablespoons coconut flour

2 tablespoons coconut milk (canned, full fat, unsweetened)

For topping: 

1/4 cup avocado oil

4 garlic cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

If you're new to yuca, you may want to watch this video to see how this process goes. 

1. Shuck the yuca. Chop off the hard ends and cut off the thick, waxy peel. Chop the root into small pieces. I generally do 3 inch long sticks that are about 3/4 of an inch thick.

2. Steam the yuca until soft. I use the pressure cooker, and cook them for 13 minutes. It's possible to do this on the stove top (boil the root instead of steaming it) but takes much longer). Test with a fork to ensure the root is tender-- otherwise, keep cooking! 

3. Remove the yuca from the pot. Place in a blender or KitchenAid stand mixer along with coconut flour and milk. I have found that the Yuca will actually burn out my blender rather quickly (it's think and sticky), and that the stand mixer does a better job, however, your blender may be different. (In some countries where yuca is a traditional dish, they just mash it by hand). 

4. Preheat oven to 350°F. 

5. Once the mash has turned into a smooth, even and gooey batter, use a spatula and scoop the dough into a pile on a baking sheet liner with parchment paper (or a silicon mat). Allow to cool long enough that it can be handled. Using your fingers, pull out the tough fibers bits (there's usually one or two dense fiber strings). If the dough is exceptionally sticky you have two options: allow it to cool more, or work coconut flour into the dough and grease up your hands with avocado oil.

6. Once the dough is smooth and workable, shape it into a pizza crust. Ensure that the dough is even. 

7. In a blender, combine garlic, salt and avocado oil. Pulse until garlic is well minced. Use a brush to spread this oil over the yuca dough. Pot the whole thing in the oven and bake for 30 - 40 minutes, until the dough is crispy and the top is golden. Slice into breadsticks and serve warm.