Provencal beef stew
This recipe is a melt in your mouth dish. The marinate combines amazing rich, woodsy spices with a little bit of sweetness to produce a tender, and flavorful meat. Serve it for dinner, but it will also make a very tasteful sandwich filling for leftovers.
A friend in France shared this recipe with me, and I’ve made it so many times — each time, I tweak it a little. For this version, I added green and black olives. The olives give the dish the saltiness to balance out the other flavors. Other times, I’ll add lots of carrots — there are more than the four in this recipe!
The marinate is key. The orange juice combined with the red wine and the star anise are what make the meat rich and flavorful. Traditionally, the beef is served with mashed potatoes, but here, I opted to make the cauliflower mash.
Ingredients:
1 lb. beef chuck, cubed
1 cup red wine
1 cup orange juice
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon cumin
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon shallot flakes
1 Tablespoon garlic flakes
1 Tablespoon onion flakes
1 pod of star anise
Bouquet Garni: rosemary, thyme, bay leaf
4 carrots, sliced
2 tomatoes sliced
1/2 cup pitted olives, green and black, quartered
Salt and pepper
Yield: serving for 6
Prep Time: overnight marinating
Cook Time: 2-3 hours
Method:
In a plastic bag or a bowl, place the meat chunks with the wine, orange juice, oil, cumin, cinnamon, shallot flakes, garlic flakes, onion flakes, and the anise.
Cover the meat with the marinate, and place in the refrigerator overnight.
The next day, remove the meat from the marinate. Place in a cast oven pan.
Stain the marinate, and place the liquid over the beef. Add the bouquet Garni, the carrots and the tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a boil on high heat until the liquid has reduced by half.
Lower the heat to low, cover the pan, and cook the meat for 2-3 hours. Season to taste.
Add the olives, and cook for 20 minutes more.
Serve with mashed potatoes or creamed cauliflower.
Creamed Cauliflower
Cauliflower head
Salt and pepper
cut the cauliflower in small florets.
In a saucepan, boil salted water.
Add the florets and cook for 5 minutes until tender.
Remove with a slotted spoon, and place in an iced cold bath. Once cool, place in a food processor to puree. Season to taste.
