French · Main
Daube de Boeuf
The southern cousin of bourguignon — beef in red wine with orange zest, olives and herbs, no flour, just a long low braise and patience
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 240 min
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- Beef chuck and cheek, 6 cm pieces — 1.5 kg
- Full-bodied red wine — 750 ml
- Olive oil — 50 ml
- Onion, chunks — 250 g
- Carrots, thick slices — 300 g
- Garlic, crushed — 20 g
- Tomatoes, chopped — 300 g
- Orange zest — 3 wide strips; juice 50 ml
- Black olives, pitted — 120 g
- Anchovy fillets (secret depth) — 3 (12 g)
- Herbes de Provence — 3 g; thyme 4 sprigs; bay 2
- Cloves — 2; juniper 3 berries
- Fine salt — 13 g; black pepper 2 g
Method
- Marinate beef overnight in wine with onion, carrot, garlic, zest, cloves and juniper.
- Drain (keep all); dry the beef. Boil the wine 5 min, skimming.
- Brown beef in oil in a heavy daubière or cocotte; remove. Soften the marinade vegetables 5 min.
- Return beef; add wine, tomatoes, anchovies, orange juice, herbs and salt.
- Seal the lid (a flour-water luting paste is traditional; foil under the lid works); braise at 140 °C for 3.5–4 h. Do not peek before 3 h.
- Skim the fat; add olives; simmer 10 min uncovered to gloss the sauce; season.
- Rest 20 min — or better, refrigerate overnight and reheat.