Fire up your dutch ovens and slow cookers because fall is coming and this beef casserole is calling your name!This post is sponsored by Holland House Cooking Wines, all opinions are my own.
And that means melt-in-your-mouth dinners like this braised beef casserole loaded with mushrooms and eggplant! I was excited to dig out my heavy pot from way back in the cupboard.
I don't think it's moved since this time last year, why would it with all the hot weather we've been having here? But now I can start to plan for the colder nights when heavier foods are okay, and every slow-cooked meat dish usually needs some kind of wine because of the flavor it adds.
It also helps to tenderize the meat. As part of my relationship with Holland House Cooking Wines, adding their Red Cooking Wine was the perfect idea to boost the flavor in this beef casserole.
Oyster mushrooms and lots of fresh rosemary also helped make this one of the best beef casserole dishes I've ever tasted.
The eggplant was more of an afterthought though. I had it in my fridge and it needed to be used soon, so I cut it into squares and let it braise along with everything else.
The eggplant also worked really well as a thickener, making that gravy nice and rich! Usually, I'd serve mashed potatoes with a dish like this but I couldn't resist these tri-colored baby potatoes.
A simple drizzle with olive oil and some salt and black pepper is all they needed. Add them to the oven in a pan halfway through the meats cooking time and they'll be perfectly cooked at the same time as the casserole.
This is one of those meals that can be placed in the middle of the table with a ladle and just let everyone go at it. And the best thing is watching them go back for seconds!
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