It’s-cold-outside “Daube Provençale”

I don’t eat much red meat, but do enjoy it from time to time if it is well sourced. And when I make beef, there are a few dishes I love – one I particularly affection in winter time is a Southern French stew called “daube provençale”. Consider it Provence’s version of the famous boeuf bourguignon, where the beef is slowly marinated and cooked for hours in red wine, carrots, onions and a few other special ingredients.

I know it might sound like something a busy woman has no time for, but hear me out: nobody will know whether or not the meat has marinated for 24 hours, I promise. Lie about it if it makes you feel better. Other thing: it only really takes 20 minutes of actual work – the rest is just simmering. And I’ll tell you one more secret: if you have a pressure cooker, use it and slash the cooking time to 30 minutes, again, even the biggest daube snob won’t be able to tell. It’s a fantabulous dish to make when you have (non-vegetarian) guests because it can be made the day before. It also freezes well if you have leftovers…which you won’t.

At home, the kids and my husband have it with pasta, but gluten-free me prefers it over polenta with a few shavings of parmesan. Either way, it’s all good.

Serves 4-6 depending on the appetite

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp gluten free flour
• 1/2 kilo grass fed chuck, cut into big cubes and1 kg grass fed beef ribs OR 1 kilo of beef cheek, cubed
• 3 large carrots, cut into big chunks
• 1-2 onions, quartered
• 4 dried porcini mushrooms, crushed into a powder
• 1/2 liter of red wine
• 1 liter good quality bone broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp herbes de Provence or dried thyme
• A dozen black olives
• 1 tsp of an organic orange’s zest
• 1-2 tsp Himalayan sea salt
• 1 square of extra dark chocolate or 1 tsp extra dark cocoa powder

Instructions

1. Sprinkle the flour over the beef chuck cubes and ribs. Coat the beef well with the flour.
2. Heat the oil in a large pot on the stove at medium-high heat
3. In batches, add the meat until it is seared on all sides (30 seconds per side) and set aside on a large plate or in a bowl
4.  In the same pot, saute the onions and carrots for 1 minute
5. Add the meat back into the pot and stir for another minute
6. Add the wine, broth, bay leaves, herbs, porcini mushrooms, orange zest and salt. Close the pot and let it simmer for 2 to 3 hours at high heat for the first 10 minutes and reducing to it medium to low for the rest of the time. Check it every half hour, making sure the meat does not stick to the bottom. Let the it cook until the meat is completely tender and falling off the bone. If you are doing this with a pressure cooker, it will take 20-30 minutes.
7. Gently take out all the solids (meat, vegetables, etc) with a large spoon and set aside in a large bowl to cool
8. Add the chocolate and olives to the remaining sauce and let simmer for 5 minutes at medium heat
9. In a small blender, pour 1/2 cup of the sauce and a 2-3 large chunks of carrot. Blend into a puree and pour back into the pot, mixing well with a large wooden spoon. Let simmer for a few minutes.
10. Meanwhile, take out all the bones from the ribs and discard (or reserve for another use) – they should come right off.
11. Place the meat and cooked vegetables back into the pot and let simmer for 10 minutes before serving.
12. Spoon over polenta, pasta or your favorite grain