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Vertical picture of Beef Daube in a blue and white bowl

Provencal Beef Stew

It's beef stew, Provencal style! Made with red wine, rosemary, thyme and bay leaves, it's slow roasted till all the flavors meld together, and the beef is melt-in-your-mouth tender and crazy delicious!
Course Main
Cuisine French
Prep Time 9 hours 13 minutes
Cook Time 9 hours 13 minutes
Servings 6 -8
Author Chris Scheuer

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2-2 ½ pounds sirloin tip roast trimmed and cut into 1 ½ to 2-inch cubes
  • 2 tablespoons sunflower oil or other neutral flavored oil
  • 12 medium garlic cloves* peeled and crushed slightly
  • 2 cups dry red wine
  • 2 cups low sodium beef broth
  • 1 pound baby carrots
  • 1 medium onion halved and sliced in thin wedges
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 teaspoons anchovie paste**
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary plus more for garnishing
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves plus more for garnishing
  • 2 medium bay leaf
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 pound mushrooms***

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 250F°. Combine flour, salt and pepper in a medium-size bowl. Add beef to the bowl and toss with your hands until beef is coated.

  2. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium low heat. Add garlic and sauté until soft and pale golden. Remove to a large plate or bowl. Increase heat to medium.
  3. Add half of the beef. Distribute so beef is in a single layer. Cook for several minutes without stirring, till beef is nice and brown on the underside, then flip and brown on the other side. Remove beef with a slotted spoon to the plate with the garlic and repeat with second half. When beef is nicely browned remove to the plate.
  4. Add the wine and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Scrape the sides and bottom of the pan with a metal spoon or spatula to loosen the frond (the brown bits). Continue to simmer for 10-15 minutes or until wine mixture is reduced to about ½ cup.
  5. Add the broth, beef, garlic and any remaining flour that's left in the bowl. Stir to combine, then add carrots, onion, tomato paste, anchovie paste, fresh herbs and bay leaf. Bring to a boil then cover and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 3 ½ to 4 hours or until beef is very tender. Remove bay leaves and set daube aside to cool. Refrigerate overnight or for as long as 2-3 days.
  6. To warm daube before serving, preheat oven to 250˚F. Heat daube in oven, covered, for 1 hour or until thoroughly heated through.
  7. While daube is warming, melt butter in a medium size pan. Add mushrooms, ½ teaspoon of kosher salt and a generous grind of black pepper. Sauté until golden brown. (After several minutes of cooking, mushrooms will look watery. Just keep cooking till all of the liquid is evaporated and mushrooms turn golden.) Add mushrooms to daube, just before serving.
  8. Serve daube in shallow bowls, on it's own or over mashed potatoes or polenta (our favorite). Garnish with fresh herbs.

Recipe Notes

* 12 cloves sounds like a lot. Don't worry that the Daube will be two garlicky. As the stew slowly cooks the garlic seems to "melt" into the delicious sauce.

** Don't skip this. If you don't like anchovies, don't worry! You'll never know in a million years they are anchovies in here but they add fabulous flavor.

*** I've used button mushrooms and a variety of wild mushrooms. Use whatever kind you like or what's freshest at the market.)