Julia Child's Daube de Boeuf (beef stew)
Ahh…Julia Child. Where would the American food scene be without her? She gave us permission to experiment with recipes that, prior to her writings, were restaurant-only faire. Her work was broad, insightful, and offered with wit and charm. If you have not seen the movie Julie and Julia you should watch it for Meryl Streep’s charismatic performance as Julia. And, speaking of performances, there is classic Dan Akroyd as Julia shouting “Save the liver!”.
This recipe comes from her classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I. It is a classic beef stew which gets some of it’s depth of flavor from marinating the beef and vegetables in wine. You can skip the marination and this will still be a tasty stew - but if you have the time, the marinating step kicks the dish up another notch.
Since it is soup/stew weather here in WNC - and since I am still working through the butcher box contents in my freezer - I decided to go with this recipe last week. I have made this before, but it has been years since I made it last. It was the bomb! A totally satisfying winter meal.
A couple of notes:
There are a couple of choices for the wine. I used a red wine, but I have read that some people like the white wine option. There is no wrong answer here.
It calls for an optional liquor addition to the marinade. I used gin, because…gin.
The recipe calls for bacon. I do not usually have bacon around the house so I skipped that ingredient. I did not miss it at all, although I am sure that it adds to the flavor profile if you go with that step.
The step where you coat each individual piece of meet in flour may seem a bit excessive. But it is the key to getting the right consistency in the sauce. You can skip this step, but I recommend spending the few minutes it takes to do this.
Julia recommends serving this with boiled potatoes, risotto, or noodles, and a green salad. I made some boiled new potatoes and the sauce from the stew was perfect spooned over them.
Don’t be intimidated by this recipe. It is worth the small bit of attention to detail. Winter will still be with us for a bit, so give this a try some time.
Julia Child’s Daube de Boeuf
INGREDIENTS:
For the marinade:
3 lbs. lean stewing beef cut into 2 1/2” squares, 1” thick.
1 1/2 cups dry white wine, dry white vermouth, or red wine.
Optional: 1/4 cup brandy, eau de vie, or gin.
2 T olive oil
2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/2 t thyme or sage
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 cups thinly sliced onions
2 cups thinly sliced carrots
For the stew:
1/2 lb lean bacon cut into 2” long slices
1 1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 1/2 lbs ripe red tomatoes, peeled, seeded juiced and chopped - or one drained 28 oz can of diced tomatoes (this will make about 2 1/4 cups of tomato pulp)
1 cup flour, on a plate
1 to 2 cups beef stock or bouillon
PREPARATION:
Place the beef in a non-reactive bowl and mix with the wine, optional spirits, olive oil, seasonings, herbs, and vegetables. Cover and marinate at least 3 hours (6 if refrigerated), stirring up frequently.
Simmer the bacon for 10 minute in 2 quarts of water. Drain and dry. Prepare the mushrooms and tomatoes.
Remove the beef from the marinade and drain in a sieve.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Line the bottom of a 5-6 quart oven proof casserole with 3 or 4 strips of bacon. Strew a handful of the marinated vegetables, mushrooms, and tomatoes over them.. Piece by piece, roll the beef in the flour and shake off the excess. Place closely together in a layer over the vegetables. Cover with a few strips of bacon, and continue with layers of vegetables, beef, and bacon. End with a layer of vegetables and 2 or 3 strips of bacon.
Pour in the wine from the marinade and enough stock or bouillon to almost cover the contents of the casserole. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove, cover, and set in lower third of the preheated oven. Simmer for 3-4 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.
Tip casserole and skim out fat.
TIP: May be prepared ahead of time and reheated. It is good either hot or cold.