La Daube en Bœufe Provençale
Another hearty beef dish from Provincial France. Elizabeth David waxes lyrical over daubes, and the evocative scents and charm of the dish, which drew me to trying out this particular recipe from French Provincial Cooking. There are as many daubes as chefs, it seems; they are basically slow-cooked dishes of red wine and meat (beef or lamb) with the meat either in a whole piece or cut up, a few tomatoes, a little garlic, herbs and generally a little orange peel.
The secret is in the long slow cooking, and also the receptacle in which the daube is cooked. The ideal is a heavy large wide oval or round two-handled Le Creuset cast iron casserole with a tight fitting lid. The meat and other ingredients should fill the casserole nicely, not be lost and lonely somewhere at the bottom.
The dish can be cooked for 2 1/2 hours the day before serving, then finished off on the day. Like many stews of this type it gains by reheating a second or third time (great for leftovers!).
Serve with a creamy garlic mash or macaroni or other short pasta mixed with the cooking liquid, some wilted spinach, and a persillade of finely chopped parsley, garlic, an anchovy (optional) and olive oil sprinkled over the meat.
Serves 8.
Ingredients:
|
1 - 1 1/2 kg topside beef, cut into slices about 8 cm square and 2 cm thick |
400 g un-smoked streaky bacon, chopped into 2 cm cubes |
|
200 g fresh pork rinds, diced (to add flavour and oomph to the daube) |
4 cloves garlic, peeled and flattened with a knife, but not crushed or minced |
|
2 onions, peeled and finely sliced |
4 tomatoes, peeled and cut into thick slices |
|
4 carrots, peeled and cut into thick diagonal slices |
a bouquet (tie up with plain string) of sprigs of thyme, bay leaf, parsley, and a strip orange peel |
|
2 glasses red wine |
extra virgin olive oil |
|
salt, pepper |
|
Method:
Put the olive oil into the casserole, then layer the bacon, the vegetables and half the pork rinds. Place the meat over the top, the slices overlapping, and push the garlic and herbs into the centre. Cover with the rest of the pork rinds and season with salt and pepper (half a dozen grinds of each; check seasoning later).
Commence cooking on a moderate heat on the cook-top (no lid as yet) and cook for about 10 minutes. In a separate saucepan heat the wine, bring it to the boil and set light to it*, swirling the pan. When the flames have died down pour the wine over the meat in the casserole. Cover with a piece of greaseproof paper and a tight fitting lid. Transfer to a slow oven and cook for 2 1/2 - 5 hours.
To serve; arrange the slices of meat and vegetables and bacon on a hot dish (remove the bouquet) and pour a little sauce over. Strain off the rest of the cooking liquid and stir through the cooked macaroni in a separate large wide bowl. Hand the persillade separately.
* This sounds scary, and I avoided recipes that required such fancy flambe-ing for ages. However its not that bad, the flames don't shoot up like the Towering Inferno but flicker like those on a proper Christmas pudding. And it really does add a certain something to the flavour of the dish.