 |
| Daube ... French for 'boozy stew' |
In a restaurant one lazy Sunday
lunchtime, I witnessed a completely unguarded moment. At another table, a man
speared a piece of meat and brought it absently to his mouth – a mouth that was
more interested in the conversation it was having, than the food it was about
to taste. As the forkful disappeared into that disinterested mouth, there was
an instant of stunned stillness on the guy’s face, a tentative chewing, a look
of disbelief. There followed in quick succession: a roll of the eyes, a deep
sigh of satisfaction, and an ecstatic flinging back of his head. I could almost
hear the man’s taste buds shout “Yes! Yes! Oh, Yes!”
Who could resist? So, of course I
said to the waiter “I’ll have what he’s having.” It turned out to be beef cheeks in red wine. Errrr… yum… Actually, while it was good,
it wasn’t (in my view) worthy of a food orgasm. Stew rarely is. It’s more of a
platonic sort of dish that hits you with a big warm friendly hug - even more so, if it has been simmered in red wine.
While hugs should always
be served up fresh the moment they are ready, stew is often even better the next day - the flavours
melding in a delicious alchemy.
 |
| I'll have what he's having... |
For 4 – 6 people, you will need…
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive
oil
1.25kg braising/stewing beef cut
into thick chunks (I had 10 pieces in total, serving one or two per person
depending on appetite)
5 fat cloves of garlic, peeled
but left whole
2 onions, peeled and cut into wedges
– leave the root intact so that the pieces hold together
4 carrots,
peeled and cut into sizeable chunks
2 sticks of celery, peeled to
removed stringy bits, then finely chopped
250g smoked bacon lardons
750ml red
wine
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
3 bay
leaves
a small bundle of thyme
the zest of half a lemon (yellow
layer only) cut into thick ribbons using a potato peeler (tie the bay leaves,
thyme and lemon zest into a little bundle with food grade cotton string to make
retrieval easier)
2 handfuls of black olives,
stones removed (from Provence if you can get them)
a pinch of sugar
a little finely chopped parsley to scatter over the top of the finished dish
Method
Heat the olive oil in a large flame
proof casserole dish or a large saucepan and brown the chunks of beef all over,
being careful to give them enough space otherwise they will steam rather than
fry and you’ll lose out on quite a bit of flavour. Do this in batches if
necessary. When the beef is browned, remove from the pan and set aside. Reduce
the heat and add the garlic, onions, carrots, celery and lardons. Fry gently for about 5 minutes.
Now, add the rest of the
ingredients (except the parsley). Turn up the heat until the liquid begins to
bubble. Immediately lower the heat, cover and cook at a very gentle simmer for 3-and-a-half
hours (remove the lid for the last half hour so that the sauce reduces a little).
The meat, when finished, should be almost tender enough to cut with a spoon.
Taste and add salt and black
pepper only if necessary.
Serve piping hot with the parsley
scattered over.
For me, this stew is hearty
enough to serve on its own with nothing more than decent bread to mop up the
sauce. It is also really good with celeriac mash.
 |
| Dig in! |