Boeuf en Daube - that's French for 'Boozy Beef Stew'!

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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!

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Cottage Pie with Potato Slates - low-brow but lovely!

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I love, love, love pretty, primped, posh food - the sort that Neven Maguire does in his restaurant. You know, trio of this, ballotine of that. And while I’m not crazy about foams, I'll happily mop up every last atom of a jus or a reduction - with a suitably high-brow crust of bread, obviously! If a foodstuff is creamed, candied or caramelised, I’m there. A bisque, a carpaccio, an assiette? You bet!

However, sometimes you just need no-nonsense rib-sticking comfort food. The second-coldest winter on record has given me plenty of opportunity to make Cottage Pie. There is nothing like it to chase the Winter blues away. 

While I love this pie topped with rich buttery mash, it can pile on the pounds so this is my low(er) calorie, low brow version with potato slates. As it is stuffed full of vegetables, it needs no accompaniment (except perhaps a low-brow blob of HP or Chef Brown Sauce). In an ironic nod to posh food you could make it in individual portions.

For 4 – 6 portions of no-nonsense rib-sticking Cottage Pie you will need...
... to pre-heat the oven to 180°C when ready to bake the pie

Filling

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 medium onions (about the size of a tennis ball), finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

1 stick of celery, peeled of stringy fibres, finely chopped

1 fat clove of garlic, crushed

½ teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme

500g of the best minced beef you can afford (make friends with your butcher and get him to mince some round steak while you wait.)

200mls good beef stock

100mls red wine

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons oxtail soup-mix (the low brow ingredient)

75mls cold water 

Topping
500g smallish evenly-sized potatoes (prepared weight) peeled and cut into ½ cm slices

2 large handfuls of fresh spinach, shredded (optional)

100g cheddar cheese, grated

50g parmesan cheese, finely grated 



Low-brow but lovely!

In a medium frying pan over a medium heat, heat half the olive oil. Add the chopped onion, carrot, and celery and cook gently without colouring, until the onions are soft and translucent –6 – 8 minutes. Add the crushed garlic and thyme and cook for a further minute. Transfer to a bowl and return the pan to the heat.

Add the rest of the olive oil and the minced beef and fry until the mince has browned.

Return the cooked vegetables to the pot, along with the beef stock, wine and chopped parsley. Simmer gently for about 20 minutes while you prepare the potato slate.

For the potato slates, place the potato slices in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for approximately 15 minutes or until easily pierced with a knife but not falling apart. Drain and allow to cool sufficiently to be handled.

While the potatoes are cooling, thicken the meat filling by blending the oxtail soup-mix with the water until smooth and stirring into the simmering meat. Cook for a further 5 minutes then remove from the heat. Transfer to a large pie dish or divide between 4 – 6 individual pie dishes. Pre-heat the oven now, while you finish preparing the pie.

Cover the meat filling with the shredded spinach (optional) and arrange the slices of potato on top in overlapping rows, like the slates of a roof – it is Cottage Pie, after all. Sprinkle with the grated cheeses. Place the dish(es) on a baking tray to catch any juices that may bubble over, and bake in the preheated oven for 25 - 30 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown and the filling bubbling hot.

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