Provençal Beef Stew

One of the most ancient of Provençal dishes, the simple beef stew is made glorious by the slow simmering that transforms the meat into tender, richly seasoned morsels. Authentic recipes will call for five to six hours of cooking time; we've achieved delicious results by oven baking the stew for hours at a low temperature.

Category Main, Dinner

Cuisine french

Total Time 4h 30m

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp olive oil.

• 3 lbs beef chuck, cut into 1- to 2-inch chunks.

• 2 medium-size onions, coarsely chopped

• 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

• 5 carrots, peeled and quartered

• 6 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped

• 8 fresh sage leaves, coarsely chopped, or 1 tsp dried sage leaves

• 1 tsp dried herbs de Provence or thyme leaves

• 4 whole cloves

• 3 strips of orange peel (1/2 inch wide)

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp ground black pepper

• 1 cup red wine

• Water

Instructions

Steps

1. In ovenproof 5-quart dutch oven or casserole, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium-high heat; brown beef in batches on all sides. With slotted spoon remove beef and set aside.

2. Add remaining 2 tbsp oil to pan. Reduce heat to medium and add onions and garlic. Saute 5 minutes.

3. Stir in carrots, tomatoes, sage, herbes de Provence, cloves, orange peel, bay leaf, salt and pepper.

4. Pour red wine over all; add browned beef and enough water to cover and stir to blend. Heat mixture to a gentle simmer.

5. Meanwhile, heat oven to 250F.

6. When mixture begins to simmer, remove from heat, cover and bake 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

7. Uncover stew and bake 2 more hours, or until beef is very tender and stew thickens.

8. Serve, or cool, cover and refrigerate. Provençal Beef Stew will taste even better the next day.