Description

The shredded beef sauce are cooked in a slow cooker. The sauce is served over creamy polenta and topped with caramelized onions. This meal makes a large batch making it perfect for feeding a crowd or meal prep.

Ingredients

Units Scale

FOR THE SAUCE:
2 pounds round bottom roast (or other similar cut of beef)
1 cup semi-dry red wine (such as Pinot Noir or Malbec)*
1/2 cup beef broth
3 15 ounce cans fire roasted tomatoes
2 carrots, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves
4 Juniper berries, crushed (optional – i find these dried in the spice section)
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
3 tablespoons to 1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
FOR THE CARAMELIZED ONIONS:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium sized onions, sliced into thin rings
salt
FOR THE CREAMY POLENTA:
2 cups yellow polenta (aka corn grits)
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups filtered water
4 ounces room temperature goat cheese
salt and pepper

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Instructions

FOR THE SAUCE:
Add all of the ingredients to the slow cooker, except for the honey, smoked paprika, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Stir to combine. Cook on high for 5 to 6 hours or on low for 9 to 10 hours or until the beef is cooked through and the veggies are tender.
Remove the beef. Once cooled enough to handle remove any fat and shred the beef using two forks.
Use an immersion blender to blend the sauce until it’s creamy. Alternately you can transfer the sauce to a blender, working in small batches. Once the sauce is blended add the shredded beef back to the sauce.
Stir in the honey (to taste), smoked paprika, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Taste and adjust salt and pepper and other seasonings as needed. Allow the slow cooker to sit on low temperature or keep warm.
FOR THE CARAMELIZED ONIONS:
About 20 minuets before the sauce and beef are done cooking make the caramelized onions. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Heat the oil and add the onions, sprinkle with a decent amount of salt and saute for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The caramelized onions are done when they turn light brown and are tender and sweet in flavor. The longer you cook them the sweeter they will be. Be sure to lower the temperature if needed to prevent burning. Set aside.
FOR THE CREAMY POLENTA:
Once the beef sauce is done and you are ready to serve the meal make the polenta.
Using a deep pot bring the chicken stock and water to a boil. Slowly whisk in the polenta. Turn the heat down to low. Keep stirring constantly until the polenta begins to thicken, be careful because it will bubble and splash. Stir in the goat cheese and salt and pepper to taste. It should take about 5 to 10 minutes to thicken.
If the polenta becomes too thick you can stir in more chicken stock or water to thin it out, you want it to remain creamy.
FOR SERVING:
Spoon a some of the creamy polenta into a bowl. Spoon over some of the shredded beef sauce and top with the caramelized onions. Serve immediately.
Leftovers reheat and freeze nicely. When reheating the polenta I like to stir in the beef sauce to help make it creamy again.

Notes

*If you don’t drink wine then you can sub it for 1 cup of beef broth. However the red wine does play a huge part in the flavor of the dish. I highly recommend using the wine if you can. The alcohol does cook off.