Beef Daube Provençale
With the first glimpse of winter, the heartiest dish to celebrate its arrival is a beef Daube. This is the quintessential Provencale dish, based on the simple concept of cooking the beef from the region, using wine that is from the region, and a mixture of fresh herbs from your garden.
This recipe is for 6 people, and will take about 45 minutes of preparation which can happen much earlier in the day and final cooking of 2 hours before serving.
1.5 kg of boneless beef chuck meat cut into 2-inch cubes (excess fat removed)
1 large Spanish onion finely diced
2 cloves of gralic finely diced
3 medium sized carrots diced
1 bouquet garni- 6 sprigs of thyme, 3 rosemary, 2 bay leaves
1 celery stalk,
1 orange peel-twirl
3 oz of bacon cubed
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
2 bottles of red wine
PREPARATION
In a large bowl, place the cubed beef and top with the finely diced onions, garlic, carrots, celery, and bouquet garni. Then pour the wine to cover and place in the fridge.
This can happen a day in advance, which is ideal, or the morning of the day you plan to serve for dinner, the longer the meat marinates, the better.
To begin the Daube, take the meat cubes out of the bowl and allow to dry, either by straining or pad-drying with paper towls. Sprinkle the beef cubes with salt and pepper.
In a deep pot that you will use for braising and final cooking, place half the olive oil and heat on medium-high heat. Add the bacon cubes and cook to a light crisp, remove and set aside. Then place half the beef cubes and braise until all sides are seared and darkened. This creates a lot of flavor. Remove and add to the bacon. Then add the remaining olive oil and braise the second half of the beef cubes.
Then deglaze the pot with 1/2 cup of the wine marinade, then add the rest of the wine onion and herb marinade along with the beef and bacon.
Now you have the option to fully complete the Daube and serve it thereafter, or you can set the pot aside and finish it later in the day. Plan accordingly, it takes 2 hours to simmer and finish the Daube.
To finish the Daube, bring it to a boil then simmer on the lowest heat and keep covered.
You will be checking on the Duabe during the 2 hours, as the suace gets thicker, you will need to taste it and ensure there is enough salt and pepper.
You can serve the beed Duabe on top of tagliatelli, or with oven braised potatoes and carrots.
