Slow Cooker French Dips

I swear my mom and I have the same brain. Case in point, last week Cole and I were headed to Olympia to visit my mom and dad (and the pugs) for the night. In our usual text message exchange where we ask each other (at minimum) a week in advance what we want to make for dinner, we both said at the same time, without hesitation, French dips. I'm not kidding. It was scary...

It was also amazing because I legit had a hardcore French dip craving for over a week and I hadn't been able to satisfy it! Naturally I was super pumped to head to Oly for puggy snuggles and to whip up some tasty French dips.

Confession: my mouth is already watering. I haven't even gotten to the juicy details. Ha, see what I did there? 

Another confession: I can't take credit for the first part of this recipe. Mama D took the liberty of placing a beautiful beef roast in the slow cooker with a few simple ingredients and let it do its thing all day. Fast forward to when Cole and I waltz in the door after a long drive, and we're in business for French dip creation. 

But here comes the really juicy part. We roughly sliced the tender beef then placed it on the flat top grill to crisp with slices of melty Swiss cheese (side note: my spellcheck always says melty is not a word. I have a serious problem with this, spellcheck). We also slathered some French rolls with garlic butter before putting them on the flat top for a toast. Oh, and we strained the naturally made au jus from the beef roasting all day for dipping. It was like we took your average French dip and turned the volume up to 11.

I mean, look at these buns. LOOK AT THEM.

They were absolutely unreal. Salty, rich beef with creamy cheese on the most perfectly toasted buns, just ready for dunking in one of the best au jus's I've ever tasted. Not to mention, they were insanely easy to throw together. Forget your store bought roast beef and packets of au jus, you need to make these ASAP.

Craving satisfied.

Slow Cooker French Dips 

• 1 3-lb beef rump roast

• 1 Guinness or Stout beer

• 2 cups beef broth or 2 cans Campbell's beef consomme

• 6 cloves fresh garlic, minced

• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 teaspoon thyme

• 4 French rolls

• 4 slices of Swiss or provolone

• 2 tablespoons butter

• Water for steaming

• Optional:

• 1/4 cup sour cream

• 2 tablespoons horseradish

Place beef rump roast in slow cooker with fresh garlic, garlic powder, onion powder and thyme. Pour beer and beef broth over rump roast. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Remove beef from slow cooker and roughly shred before placing back in liquid from slow cooker.

Heat a flat top grill or large skillet on medium high heat. Slice four French rolls (makes at least eight servings, there just happen to be four tummies to feed!) and spread garlic butter on each half. Place cut side down on flat top and toast for about a minute. Set aside.

Remove beef from slow cooker and set aside. Strain liquid to remove chunks and ladle au jus into mugs or ramekins.

Drop piles of beef on flat top grill (large enough to fit your rolls) and place slices of cheese on each pile. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of water by each pile and cover piles with another large skillet to let steam for about a minute, or until cheese is melted and beef is slightly crispy on the bottom.

Place beef on toasted buns. Optional: combine sour cream and horseradish to slather on the buns as a condiment. Mandatory: dunk into ramekins of au jus repeatedly.