French Dip Sandwiches

By now most of my friends know that when you have a converation with me, inevitably it's going to be about food. I don't mean for it to happen, it just does, and it makes me so happy! So while having a food conversation with my adorable friend Angela, she mentioned having a homemade French Dip recipe. My husband and I LOVE French dip, but I admit that I've only ever done it with packaged au jus and not from scratch. So when I got the recipe, I was thrilled to discover that I had EVERY single ingredient to put this together. Hallelujah, don't you love that!

This literally takes about five minutes, if that, to throw together in your crockpot, and then you get to smell it brewing all day. I was so excited to eat it that night. I used hamburger buns because it's what I had and, but normally I would probably make this on a hoagie or kaiser roll. I toasted the buns with some really sharp provolone, which was the perfect compliment to the savory meat. My kids also really loved it, which doesn't happen all the time. They thought it was so fun to dip their sandwiches in the "soup" and at once point my daughter wanted to just drink it! Angela suggests adding an onion soup mix to the mix, which I will definitely do next time I make this! I could really go on and on about this sandwich, so you're just going to have to try it for yourselves!

French Dip Sandwiches
Thanks Angela!

Ingredients

1 (4 pound) boneless beef roast (Mine is often smaller than this, 2-3 pounds works fine too. And I usually cut it into a few pieces so it will cook faster/better.)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 beef bouillon cube
1 bay leaf
3 whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon garlic powder (I used minced garlic)
2-3 cups beef stock or water
package of onion soup mix (optional)
French Bread or Rolls for sandwiches

Directions

Remove and discard all visible fat from the roast. Place trimmed roast in a slow cooker.

In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce, bouillon, bay leaf, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme, and garlic powder. Pour mixture over roast, and add enough water (i used beef stock) to almost cover roast. Cover, and cook on Low heat for 10 to 12 hours, or until meat is very tender (mine completely fell apart after sitting on high for seven house, mmmm).

Remove meat from broth, reserving broth. Shred meat with a fork, and distribute on bread for sandwiches. Used reserved broth for dipping.
(Sometimes I'll make up some beef broth & mix it with the remaining broth if I want more dipping sauce.)