Beef in Red Wine and Mushroom Sauce

This is a simple crock pot recipe that is just delicious over mashed potatoes or  egg noodles.  I made a double recipe yesterday and we took dinner to our neighbors who just had a baby.  You can leave the red wine out if you want.  Your sauce will be thicker without the wine, but you can always add a little extra water.  It doesn't really matter what kind you use.  I used a merlot.  I usually keep inexpensive wine around for cooking.  I have included a basic recipe for mashed potatoes at the end of this post.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 lb round steak 
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 small can mushroom pieces and stems
1 pouch Lipton Beefy Onion soup and dip mix
1 cup red wine*

Directions:

Cut steak into 5 or 6 pieces and put in crock pot.  Put the other ingredients in crock pot on top of the meat.  Cook on low about 8 hours or until meat is tender.  The meat will still be in chunks.  You can serve it in chunks and individuals can break it up themselves on their mashed potatoes.  

Serve over mashed potatoes or egg noodles. 

*You can use broth or water in place of the red wine, but the wine adds the most flavor.  
 
Mashed Potatoes

Several potatoes depending on how many people you are serving (I use 6 to 8 potatoes.)  
Russet potatoes or Yukon Gold are my favorites to mash.
Half and Half or part cream & part milk (If all you have is milk, use straight milk)
Butter
Salt

1.     Peel and chop potatoes into large chunks.

2.     Put in a large covered pot, cover with water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium and cook until potatoes are tender.  

3.     When potatoes are tender, drain and mash them with a potato masher.  If you don’t have a potato masher, you can use a mixer.

4.     Add half and half or cream and milk or just milk to thin the potatoes.  Stir in butter for flavor 3 to 4 Tablespoons should be good.  Stir in salt for flavor.  Continue to stir and mash until you get the consistency that you want.  You can always thin with more half and half.  Taste to make sure you get the flavor you want.

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