Beef Stew with Red Wine & Carrots. Traca, here is a wonderful Molly recipe, it was in Fine Cooking
magazine but I can't access it today. If you google, you can find it on line. It's just delicious although the first time I made it, I overdid the orange zest. Just a heads up.
* Exported for MasterCook 4 by Living Cookbook *
Beef Stew with Red Wine & Carrots (Daube de Boeuf aux Garottes)
Recipe By : Molly Stevens
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time: 0:00
Categories : *Favorite Beef
Main Dish Vegetable
Vegetable
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
1 3-lb boneless beef chuck roast
2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
2 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 oz shallots (8 to 10 medium), thinly sliced
-- (about 2 cups)
2 Tbs brandy, such as Cognac
2 Tbs tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (2 to 3 tsp.)
2 tsp herbes de Provence
2 cups hearty red wine, such as Cotes de Provence
-- or Cotes du Rhone
1 14 1/2-oz can whole, peeled tomatoes
4 strips orange zest (2 1/2 inches long, removed
-- with a vegetable peeler)
1 lb slender carrots, peeled and cut into
-- 3/4- to 1-inch chunks (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1. Using your fingers and a thin knife, pull the roast apart along its
natural seams. Trim off any thick layers of fat. Carve the roast into 1 1/2-
to 2-inch cubes and arrange them on a paper-towel-lined tray to dry.
2. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 325°F.
3. Heat the oil and bacon together in a 7- or 8-qt. Dutch oven over medium
heat, stirring occasionally, just until the bacon is browned but not crisp,
5 to 6 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a small plate.
Season about one-third of the beef with salt and pepper, and arrange the
cubes in a sparse single layer in the pot to brown. Adjust the heat so the
beef sizzles and browns but does not burn. Cook until all sides are a rich
brown, a total of about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large plate or tray, and
season and brown the remaining beef in 2 more batches.
4. When all the beef chunks are browned, pour off all but about 1 tablespoon
of drippings, if necessary. Set the pot over medium-high heat, add the
shallots, season with a large pinch of salt and several grinds of pepper,
and sauté until they just begin to soften, about 1 minute. Add the brandy
and let it boil away. Add the tomato paste, garlic, and herbes de Provence,
stirring to incorporate, and sauté for another 1 minute. Add the wine,
stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to dislodge
the caramelized drippings, and bring to a boil. Pour in the liquid from the
tomatoes, holding the tomatoes back with your hand. Then one by one, crush
the tomatoes with your hand over the pot and drop them in. Add the orange
zest, and return the beef (along with accumulated juices) and bacon to the
pot. Finally, add the carrots, bring to a simmer, cover, and slide into the
oven.
5. Cook the stew, stirring every 45 minutes, until the meat is fork-tender
(taste a piece; all trace of toughness should be gone), 2 to 3 hours. Before
serving, skim off any surface fat (if there is any), taste for salt and
pepper, and stir in the parsley.
6. This dish can be made up to three days ahead. Reserve the chopped parsley
and don't bother skimming the surface fat. Instead, transfer the cooled stew
to a bowl or baking dish, cover tightly, and refrigerate, Before reheating,
lift off the layer of solid fat that will be on the surface. Reheat gently
in a 325°F oven in a covered baking dish, stirring once, for about 30
minutes, or until hot. Taste for salt and pepper and add the parsley just
before serving.
Cooking Tip: Rather than buying already cut-up stew meat, buy a whole chuck
roast and cut it into 1 1/2- to 2-inch cubes. These larger chunks won't dry
out during the long braise, and they make the stew more satisfying to eat.
Recipe Author: Molly Stevens
Recipe Source: Fine Cooking
Author Note: Molly Stevens, an award-winning author and contributing editor
to Fine Cooking, got hooked on bistro fare while working at La Varenne
cooking school in France.
Author Note: Very simply, a daube (pronounced dohb) is a red-wine-based beef
or lamb stew. This type of dish has countless flavor permutations, of
course, but the most famous (and my favorite) is the Provencal daube,
seasoned with local herbs and a bit of orange zest. The orange was
originally the bitter Seville orange, but you can make a fine daube with a
few strips of navel orange (add a strip of lemon, too, if you want to
sharpen the flavor). I also like to add some sort of vegetable garnish to
sweeten and brighten the stew. Here I've used carrots cut into hefty chunks
so they hold their shape during the long cooking, but you could also use a
combination of parsnips, baby onions, and celeriac.
Author Note: When buying meat for a daube, your best bet is to select a
small chuck roast and cut it yourself. Most butchers and meat markets cut
their stew meat way too small for my preference. In my mind, a proper daube
should be a knife-and-fork affair-meaning the chunks are larger than bite
size.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
