A beef daube is a kind of stew that is just right for the cold weather -
and that is what I cooked, using the following recipe, which I posted
before. It is from _Bistro Cooking_ by Patricia Wells.

Victor

Daube de Boeuf Auberge de la Madone aux Cèpes et à l'Orange
Auberge de la Madone's Beef Stew with Wild Mushrooms and Orange

4 1/2 pounds (2.25 kg) stewing beef, preferably a combination of beef
round and beef chuck, cut into large pieces (each weighing about
4 ounces; 125 g)
4 carrots, peeled and cut into rounds
3 medium onions, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 sprig of fresh parsley
1 celery rib, thickly sliced
3 imported by leaves
1 tablespoon fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
1/4 cup (6 cl) marc de Provence or Cognac
1 bottle (75 cl) sturdy red wine, such as Côtes-de-Provence
1/4 cup (6 cl) plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
3 whole cloves
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces; 45 g) unsalted butter
1 pound (500 g) fresh wild cèpe mushrooms or cultivated mushrooms
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Grated zest and juice of one orange

1. One day before serving the stew: In a large nonreactive bowl,
combine the meat with the carrots, onions, garlic, parsley, celery, bay
leaves, thyme, marc, red wine, and the 1 tablespoon olive oil. Tie the
peppercorns and cloves in a piece of cheesecloth; add to the bowl and
toss well. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours, stirring once or twice.

2. Let the meat and vegetables return to room temperature. With a
slotted spoon, remove the meat from the marinade. Drain well; pat dry
on paper towels. Set the vegetables aside. Transfer the liquid and the
cheesecloth bag to a nonreactive large heatproof casserole. Bring to a
boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 5 minutes to reduce slightly.
Remove from the heat.

3. In a large skillet, melt the butter in the remaining 1/4 cup (6 cl)
olive oil over high heat. When the foam subsides, add half of the meat.
Sauté, tossing, until browned all over, about 5 minutes. With a slotted
spoon, transfer the meat to the liquid in the casserole. Repeat with
the remaining meat.

4. In the same skillet, sauté the reserved vegetables until browned,
about 7 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to the casserole. Add the
mushrooms to the skillet. Sauté until lightly browned, about 5 minutes;
set aside.

5. Stir the tomato paste into the casserole. Bring to a simmer over
medium-low heat. Reduce the heat to very low and simmer, skimming
occasionally, until the meat is very tender, 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Stir in
salt and pepper to taste, the mushrooms and the orange zest and juice.
Discard the cheesecloth bag of cloves and peppercorns. (The recipe can
be prepared 2 to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Reheat before serving.)
Serve with potatoes, rice, or pasta.

Yield: 8 servings

"Victor Sack" > wrote in message
.. .
>A beef daube is a kind of stew that is just right for the cold weather -
> and that is what I cooked, using the following recipe, which I posted
> before. It is from _Bistro Cooking_ by Patricia Wells.
>
> Victor
>
> Daube de Boeuf Auberge de la Madone aux Cèpes et à l'Orange
> Auberge de la Madone's Beef Stew with Wild Mushrooms and Orange
>
> 4 1/2 pounds (2.25 kg) stewing beef, preferably a combination of beef
> round and beef chuck, cut into large pieces (each weighing about
> 4 ounces; 125 g)
> 4 carrots, peeled and cut into rounds
> 3 medium onions, coarsely chopped
> 2 garlic cloves
> 1 sprig of fresh parsley
> 1 celery rib, thickly sliced
> 3 imported by leaves
> 1 tablespoon fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
> 1/4 cup (6 cl) marc de Provence or Cognac
> 1 bottle (75 cl) sturdy red wine, such as Côtes-de-Provence
> 1/4 cup (6 cl) plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
> 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
> 3 whole cloves
> 3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces; 45 g) unsalted butter
> 1 pound (500 g) fresh wild cèpe mushrooms or cultivated mushrooms
> 1 tablespoon tomato paste
> Salt and freshly ground pepper
> Grated zest and juice of one orange
>
> 1. One day before serving the stew: In a large nonreactive bowl,
> combine the meat with the carrots, onions, garlic, parsley, celery, bay
> leaves, thyme, marc, red wine, and the 1 tablespoon olive oil. Tie the
> peppercorns and cloves in a piece of cheesecloth; add to the bowl and
> toss well. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours, stirring once or twice.
>
> 2. Let the meat and vegetables return to room temperature. With a
> slotted spoon, remove the meat from the marinade. Drain well; pat dry
> on paper towels. Set the vegetables aside. Transfer the liquid and the
> cheesecloth bag to a nonreactive large heatproof casserole. Bring to a
> boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 5 minutes to reduce slightly.
> Remove from the heat.
>
> 3. In a large skillet, melt the butter in the remaining 1/4 cup (6 cl)
> olive oil over high heat. When the foam subsides, add half of the meat.
> Sauté, tossing, until browned all over, about 5 minutes. With a slotted
> spoon, transfer the meat to the liquid in the casserole. Repeat with
> the remaining meat.
>
> 4. In the same skillet, sauté the reserved vegetables until browned,
> about 7 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to the casserole. Add the
> mushrooms to the skillet. Sauté until lightly browned, about 5 minutes;
> set aside.
>
> 5. Stir the tomato paste into the casserole. Bring to a simmer over
> medium-low heat. Reduce the heat to very low and simmer, skimming
> occasionally, until the meat is very tender, 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Stir in
> salt and pepper to taste, the mushrooms and the orange zest and juice.
> Discard the cheesecloth bag of cloves and peppercorns. (The recipe can
> be prepared 2 to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Reheat before serving.)
> Serve with potatoes, rice, or pasta.
>
> Yield: 8 servings
>
>
I think this recipe has problems.

Mixing beef chuck and beef round is a mistake. Use one or the other. For all
braised beef dishes we tend to use chuck, which stays moist. Round dries
out. It really needs to be larded.
Browning beef with butter is a mistake. Butter doesn't tolerate heat very
well unless it's clarified. We usually use rendered salt pork fat, sometimes
bacon fat, though you can use any oil that will brown without breaking down.
If you add roughly chopped onions, and chunks of celery and carrot to a dish
that you're going to braise four hours you're going to have a gloppy mess.
A wine only braising liquid is not very appealing. A dish like this should
have some beef stock, as in Boeuf Bourguignon.
To spend $25 or so a pound for cepes, if they're available, and add it to a
dish this crude is a waste of $25. Fresh cepes and fresh porcinis, if you
can find them locally are quite delicate and would be lost in the dish.

Patty Wells got this recipe from a restaurant. I wonder if she tried it
enough to validate that this is indeed what she ate at the restaurant. We do
like Patty Wells' books. In "Bistro Cooking" check out Baker's Wive's
Potatoes on page 110. We cook that dish now and then and like it.

Kent

Kent > wrote:

> "Victor Sack" > wrote...
> >
> > Daube de Boeuf Auberge de la Madone aux Cèpes et à l'Orange
> > Auberge de la Madone's Beef Stew with Wild Mushrooms and Orange
> >
> I think this recipe has problems.
>
> Mixing beef chuck and beef round is a mistake. Use one or the other. For all
> braised beef dishes we tend to use chuck, which stays moist. Round dries
> out. It really needs to be larded.

First, a mixture of at least two - and often more - of different cuts is
typical of the Provençal daubes. Second, you can thank the, at the
basic level primitive, American butchery descriptions for using such
basic, primal, cuts as chuck or round, for use in actual recipes. I
guess that is what Patricia Wells was obliged to use, for lack of better
differentiated cuts known to the general public. In France, such cuts
would be, for example, macreuse or jumeaux (which are cuts from a
particular part of chuck) and tranche grasse or tendre de tranche
(particular cuts from the round). Such cuts have enough fat and do not
necessarily need to be larded. They stay moist. In Germany, near
equivalents would be Schulternaht or Oberschale (particularly an often
very nicely marmored part of the Oberschale called Pastorenstück,
Pfaffenstück, or Bürgermeisterstück) respectively. Even in America, it
is well known that, for example, the round is divided into the top and
bottom parts and that the bottom round consists of the eye of the round
and of the "flat", which have different properties, with the "flat"
being moister. All of these cuts may or may not need larding, depending
of what you actually have on hand, and on your personal preferences.

> Browning beef with butter is a mistake. Butter doesn't tolerate heat very
> well unless it's clarified.

I use clarified butter as a default in such case, but using whole butter
is nothing unusual - it does not need to be overheated to brown pieces
of meat. Lots of recipes call for just "butter" in such cases.

> We usually use rendered salt pork fat, sometimes
> bacon fat, though you can use any oil that will brown without breaking down.
> If you add roughly chopped onions, and chunks of celery and carrot to a dish
> that you're going to braise four hours you're going to have a gloppy mess.

The vegetables and the meat are supposed to be cooked together to meld
into a stew, an ideally harmonious whole. This is typical for a lot of
stews, Provençal daubes including. If vegetables cooked _al dente_ are
desired, they are cooked separately or for a shorter time.

> A wine only braising liquid is not very appealing. A dish like this should
> have some beef stock, as in Boeuf Bourguignon.

It is your personal preference, it seems. A Provençal daube is not
boeuf à la bourguignonne and is not supposed to be one. Using stock or
broth would not be typical.

> To spend $25 or so a pound for cepes, if they're available, and add it to a
> dish this crude is a waste of $25. Fresh cepes and fresh porcinis, if you
> can find them locally are quite delicate and would be lost in the dish.

First, the cost of any ingredient in an old, traditional dish is to a
certain extent irrelevant, if you want to make it the way it had been
made over the centuries. Besides, if you gather the mushrooms yourself,
they cost you only your time (and pleasure). Cèpes or porcini (which
are one and the same) are some of the more flavourful mushrooms around.
They are added to such dishes not for their own sake, but for some of
the flavour they add to the dish as a whole - and this applies to other
mushrooms, too. If more mushrooms, cooked to highlight their own taste,
are desired, they are cooked separately or for a shorter time, just as
vegetables are.

> Patty Wells got this recipe from a restaurant. I wonder if she tried it
> enough to validate that this is indeed what she ate at the restaurant.

In this particular case, little is needed to validate anything, as the
recipe is very typical indeed of the Provençal beef daubes. Patricia
Wells lives in Provence, FWIW.

Victor

"Victor Sack" > wrote in message
. ..
> Kent > wrote:
>
>> "Victor Sack" > wrote...
>> >
>> > Daube de Boeuf Auberge de la Madone aux Cepes et a l'Orange
>> > Auberge de la Madone's Beef Stew with Wild Mushrooms and Orange
>> >
>> I think this recipe has problems.
>>
>> Mixing beef chuck and beef round is a mistake. Use one or the other. For
>> all
>> braised beef dishes we tend to use chuck, which stays moist. Round dries
>> out. It really needs to be larded.
>
> First, a mixture of at least two - and often more - of different cuts is
> typical of the Provençal daubes. Second, you can thank the, at the
> basic level primitive, American butchery descriptions for using such
> basic, primal, cuts as chuck or round, for use in actual recipes. I
> guess that is what Patricia Wells was obliged to use, for lack of better
> differentiated cuts known to the general public. In France, such cuts
> would be, for example, macreuse or jumeaux (which are cuts from a
> particular part of chuck) and tranche grasse or tendre de tranche
> (particular cuts from the round). Such cuts have enough fat and do not
> necessarily need to be larded. They stay moist. In Germany, near
> equivalents would be Schulternaht or Oberschale (particularly an often
> very nicely marmored part of the Oberschale called Pastorenstück,
> Pfaffenstück, or Bürgermeisterstück) respectively. Even in America, it
> is well known that, for example, the round is divided into the top and
> bottom parts and that the bottom round consists of the eye of the round
> and of the "flat", which have different properties, with the "flat"
> being moister. All of these cuts may or may not need larding, depending
> of what you actually have on hand, and on your personal preferences.
>
>> Browning beef with butter is a mistake. Butter doesn't tolerate heat very
>> well unless it's clarified.
>
> I use clarified butter as a default in such case, but using whole butter
> is nothing unusual - it does not need to be overheated to brown pieces
> of meat. Lots of recipes call for just "butter" in such cases.
>
>> We usually use rendered salt pork fat, sometimes
>> bacon fat, though you can use any oil that will brown without breaking
>> down.
>> If you add roughly chopped onions, and chunks of celery and carrot to a
>> dish
>> that you're going to braise four hours you're going to have a gloppy
>> mess.
>
> The vegetables and the meat are supposed to be cooked together to meld
> into a stew, an ideally harmonious whole. This is typical for a lot of
> stews, Provençal daubes including. If vegetables cooked _al dente_ are
> desired, they are cooked separately or for a shorter time.
>
>> A wine only braising liquid is not very appealing. A dish like this
>> should
>> have some beef stock, as in Boeuf Bourguignon.
>
> It is your personal preference, it seems. A Provençal daube is not
> boeuf a la bourguignonne and is not supposed to be one. Using stock or
> broth would not be typical.
>
>> To spend $25 or so a pound for cepes, if they're available, and add it to
>> a
>> dish this crude is a waste of $25. Fresh cepes and fresh porcinis, if you
>> can find them locally are quite delicate and would be lost in the dish.
>
> First, the cost of any ingredient in an old, traditional dish is to a
> certain extent irrelevant, if you want to make it the way it had been
> made over the centuries. Besides, if you gather the mushrooms yourself,
> they cost you only your time (and pleasure). Cepes or porcini (which
> are one and the same) are some of the more flavourful mushrooms around.
> They are added to such dishes not for their own sake, but for some of
> the flavour they add to the dish as a whole - and this applies to other
> mushrooms, too. If more mushrooms, cooked to highlight their own taste,
> are desired, they are cooked separately or for a shorter time, just as
> vegetables are.
>
>> Patty Wells got this recipe from a restaurant. I wonder if she tried it
>> enough to validate that this is indeed what she ate at the restaurant.
>
> In this particular case, little is needed to validate anything, as the
> recipe is very typical indeed of the Provençal beef daubes. Patricia
> Wells lives in Provence, FWIW.
>
> Victor
>
>
Wow, I hadn't reviewed the French beef cuts in a long, long time. They have
separated the muscles more one by one than either the British our us.
However, I would still cling to the fact that sticking with one cut,
whatever it is, is preferable.
I think browning with clarified butter is rare in France. An exception may
be filet mignon, as in tournedos Rossini, or in making roux. When butter is
called for it's usually combined with olive oil. I do this myself routinely
at home. This is true in the recipe above.
Frequently in a daube when the vegetables are cooked the entire time that
the meat is, a portion of the vegetables are pureed and added back to the
dish at the end, or they are strained and left out of the dish.
Most beef daube recipes contain some stock, some even chicken stock. A wine
only daube is seen, though less commonly. We just don't prefer it.
Obviously, if you can go out and pick fresh porcinis or cepes with ease you
should do that. Most of us don't. I sometimes add a bit of hydrated dried
porcinis to the braise. I think cepes do have a slightly more delicate
flavor than Porcinis, though yes, they're essentially the same mushroom.
While Daube de Boeuf is different in every small town in southern France, it
can be argued that a true daube is cooked in a daubiere, the earthenware
casserole sealed to prevent any of the cooking liquid from evaporatang.
The above recipe is one of three of daube recipes in the Patty Wells books.
I don't doubt that calling it a daube de boeuf is accurate. I just wouldn't
cook that recipe.
I'm gong to dig up our ceramic casserole and make it again, after a long
hiatus. Thanks for the impetus

Kent

On Dec 26, 5:46*pm, (Victor Sack) wrote:
> A beef daube is a kind of stew that is just right for the cold weather -
> and that is what I cooked, using the following recipe, which I posted
> before. *It is from _Bistro Cooking_ by Patricia Wells.
>
> Victor
>
> * * * * Daube de Boeuf Auberge de la Madone aux Cèpes et à l'Orange
> * * * Auberge de la Madone's Beef Stew with Wild Mushrooms and Orange
>
> 4 1/2 pounds (2.25 kg) stewing beef, preferably a combination of beef
> * * * * round and beef chuck, cut into large pieces (each weighing about
> * * * * 4 ounces; 125 g)
> 4 carrots, peeled and cut into rounds
> 3 medium onions, coarsely chopped
> 2 garlic cloves
> 1 sprig of fresh parsley
> 1 celery rib, thickly sliced
> 3 imported by leaves
> 1 tablespoon fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
> 1/4 cup (6 cl) marc de Provence or Cognac
> 1 bottle (75 cl) sturdy red wine, such as Côtes-de-Provence
> 1/4 cup (6 cl) plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
> 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
> 3 whole cloves
> 3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces; 45 g) unsalted butter
> 1 pound (500 g) fresh wild cèpe mushrooms or cultivated mushrooms
> 1 tablespoon tomato paste
> Salt and freshly ground pepper
> Grated zest and juice of one orange
>
> 1. *One day before serving the stew: In a large nonreactive bowl,
> combine the meat with the carrots, onions, garlic, parsley, celery, bay
> leaves, thyme, marc, red wine, and the 1 tablespoon olive oil. *Tie the
> peppercorns and cloves in a piece of cheesecloth; add to the bowl and
> toss well. *Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours, stirring once or twice.
>
> 2. *Let the meat and vegetables return to room temperature. *With a
> slotted spoon, remove the meat from the marinade. *Drain well; pat dry
> on paper towels. *Set the vegetables aside. *Transfer the liquid and the
> cheesecloth bag to a nonreactive large heatproof casserole. *Bring to a
> boil over medium-high heat. *Boil for 5 minutes to reduce slightly.
> Remove from the heat.
>
> 3. *In a large skillet, melt the butter in the remaining 1/4 cup (6 cl)
> olive oil over high heat. *When the foam subsides, add half of the meat..
> Sauté, tossing, until browned all over, about 5 minutes. *With a slotted
> spoon, transfer the meat to the liquid in the casserole. *Repeat with
> the remaining meat.
>
> 4. *In the same skillet, sauté the reserved vegetables until browned,
> about 7 minutes. *Transfer the vegetables to the casserole. *Add the
> mushrooms to the skillet. *Sauté until lightly browned, about 5 minutes;
> set aside.
>
> 5. *Stir the tomato paste into the casserole. *Bring to a simmer over
> medium-low heat. *Reduce the heat to very low and simmer, skimming
> occasionally, until the meat is very tender, 3 1/2 to 4 hours. *Stir in
> salt and pepper to taste, the mushrooms and the orange zest and juice.
> Discard the cheesecloth bag of cloves and peppercorns. *(The recipe can
> be prepared 2 to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. *Reheat before serving.)
> Serve with potatoes, rice, or pasta.
>
> * * * * Yield: *8 servings

This looks fabulous. I had a new bottle of "Profile" red wine (Napa
Valley) for Christmas sauce for the beef tenderloin, but it was
disgusting. Plus, the cork split, so I had to strain it - I poured it
down the drain. This will give me an excuse to get something I know I
like, hearty or not - maybe a Cabernet Sauvignon....

N.