French Dip sandwiches

This meal is another favourite of my partner in crime. I feel like it's more of a fall/winter dish, and I made it this past week for this first time this season. I got the recipe from Allrecipes. I make a few modifications (explained below). It is amazingly easy for how good it tastes. I just get up half an hour earlier than I usually do, and that's enough time to get it prepped. You wouldn't believe how good the house smells when I come home after work.

I don't do too much different than the original recipe, but this is how I do it. I think it probably adds a bit more flavour. If you don't have a slow cooker you could just do it in your oven in a covered casserole dish instead, adjusting times and temps accordingly.

Brown the outside (all sides) of a 3 lb beef roast (fat trimmed off first). (I usually get what's on sale and/or looks good. This week I used eye of round. It was a 3 lb roast on sale for $6 (from $12 because it was close to the sell-by date). I was quite pleased with my thriftiness, especially because we get at least 3 meals out of this.)

Put in slow cooker (I have the smaller size, not the larger family-size one, which is why I use a smaller roast than the recipe calls for). Deglaze the frying pan with the beer. Add to the slow cooker.

Add the soup/broth as in the recipe.

I also add a few cloves of garlic, chopped into a couple of chunks each, and a small sprig of rosemary (or some dried rosemary). I also add a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce to it, and a few grindings of black pepper.

I don't know if I need to do this or not, but when I get home, I take the roast out, slice it up, and then put it back in all those juices while I get the side dish ready, toast the buns, etc.

I usually serve this with something light and mostly vegetable-y because it's so meaty and rich. This week it was just plenty of raw veggies and dip on the side. But homemade oven fries are very nice too - you can dip them in the au jus. :)

So anyway, toast your hoagie buns, put your meat on them, and serve with the juices in the slow cooker, ladled into ramekins or small bowls. Dip your sandwiches with each bite. Yum!

I actually hardly ever use my slow cooker (though I want to use it more - post your recipes!), but I think it's worth it to have one just for this dish, it's that good.