This is the easiest one there is:
Buy a beef roast, say between 2 and 4 pounds.
Buy one 16oz jar of hot banana pepper rings
Scrounge up one can of beer.
Put the beef (or pork really) into the crock
dump entire jar of peppers and juice into crock
Pour can of beer into crock
That’s it, set that sucker on low and go to work. Get some good rolls and come home and have insanely good shredded beef sandwiches. Note: you will have to spend all of 30 seconds with two forks shredding the beef as well.
Now if you want complicated but amazing, give thanks to the following Beef Burgundy from America’s Test Kitchen:
8 oz. bacon chopped
4 lbs stew beef (chuck preferably)
1 large onion chopped fine
2 carrots chopped fine
8 garlic cloves minced
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
4 tbs. tomato paste
2 1/2 cups Pinot Noir or Burgundy wine
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 or 4 bay leaves
3 tbs. Minute Tapioca
3 tbs. minced fresh parsley
2 cups pearl onions
10 oz white mushrooms, quartered
First, get all of your prep work done. Chop the onions, garlic, parsley, and thyme.
Cook the bacon in a large skillet on medium-high until crisp. Set aside on paper towel, and chop it after it’s cooled. Set aside half of the bacon fat in a bowl, and keep the other half in the pan.
Dry the beef with paper towels, and season with salt and pepper. Place half of the beef in the skillet with the half of bacon fat and cook it over medium-high until all of the sides are brown. You can cook all of the meat, but only half is really needed for flavor. When done, place the beef in the slow cooker.
Add the reserved bacon fat to the now empty skillet, and heat over medium-high. Add onion, carrots and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook until they begin to brown, and then add garlic and thyme, and cook for about 30 more seconds. Then add the tomato paste, and stir together for about another minute. Then transfer this to the slow cooker.
Add 1 1/2 cups wine, 1 1/2 cups chicken broth and 1/3 cups soy sauce to an empty skillet. Heat until it simmers. Let simmer for one minute and then transfer it to the slow cooker.
All of the above can be done the night before. Just make sure you keep all the liquids and items separate. This is what I did. Before I left to work, I put it all in the slow cooker, and went to work. Stir in bay leaves and Minute Tapioca, and set on low heat. Cook for nine hours.
After it’s cooked, place 1/2 cup water and 3 tbs of butter into a skillet along with your pearl onions. Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes until they’re tender. Uncover and increase heat until liquid is almost evaporated. Add the mushrooms with 1/4 teaspoon salt, and cook until browned and glazed. Stir this into the slow cooker.
Stir in your chopped bacon. Bring remaining 1 cup of wine to a boil in the skillet over high heat and then simmer until it’s reduced by half (about 5 minutes). Stir the wine and parsley into the slow cooker, and you’re done!
