Beef Daube

 

“Marianne, One of a Kind,” [France] is a TV show featuring French actress, Marilou Berry as outspoken and unorthodox investigating judge, Marianne Vauban, who loves a quirky crime, and her food. It was through the viewing of this series that I became acquainted with Beef Daube, more or less a Provençal French stew, a dish she enjoyed most gustily in Season 1, Episode 2 “Truckers.”

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 As she savored every bite she had this to say, “Oh, my! The sauce!” and “The baby carrots are amazing!” She was not wrong. I honestly don’t think I have ever tasted better carrots. The beef itself was superb!

As you can see the list of ingredients is lengthy, and I’m not going to lie, it took me a bit of time to do this. But, it is well worth it because it is absolute heaven. Marianne was right.

Beef Daube

Adapted from thekitchn.com

 3 lbs. boneless chuck roast

2 T. olive oil

1½ t. kosher salt

½ t. freshly ground black pepper

1 1-lb. bag baby carrots

4 lg. cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

2 T. tomato paste

1 T. Dijon mustard

2 T. flour

6 Melissa’s French Echalion Shallots, peeled and halved

3 whole cloves

1 orange

1 (750-milliliter) bottle Burgundy

1 small bunch Melissa’s fresh thyme

1 small bunch Melissa’s fresh rosemary

Chopped fresh parsley, for serving, optional

Cooked wide egg noodles or fresh pasta, for serving, optional

Preheat oven to 325° F. Arrange the racks such as to be able to accommodate your Dutch oven with the lid on.

 Cut beef into 2-inch cubes.

 Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Dry the meat with paper towels and season with the kosher salt and pepper. Sear the meat, undisturbed, in batches for 6-9 minutes until the underside develops a dark brown crust. Transfer the meat to a clean bowl as it is seared. When all the meat has been seared, deglaze the pan with a half cup of water.

 Reduce the heat to medium and add the carrots and garlic to the pan. Cook, stirring often, until the carrots are glossy and the garlic is lightly browned, 5 minutes. Add tomato paste, Dijon mustard, and flour; stir to combine.

 Stick 3 whole cloves into the flesh of a shallot half. (This will make the cloves easy to remove before serving.) Add to Dutch oven, then using a vegetable peeler, peel 2 large strips of zest from 1 orange into the Dutch oven.

Add all the meat and any accumulated juices then add the entire bottle of burgundy. Tie 1 small bunch fresh rosemary and 1 small bunch fresh thyme together with a small piece of kitchen twine then add to the Dutch oven; stir to combine.

Bring to a simmer, about 5 minutes, then cover and transfer to the oven. Cook until the meat will easily pull apart with a fork, 3 hours. Check at 2 1/2 hours. If the meat has started to go dry, add more wine to cover. Put lid back on Dutch oven, put it back into the oven and bake another half an hour.

Remove the bundles of herbs, strips of orange, and whole cloves before serving. Taste and season with kosher salt and black pepper if needed.

 If desired, finely chop leaves and tender stems from 1/2 bunch fresh parsley. Serve with cooked egg noodles and a sprinkling of chopped fresh parsley.

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Pasta Alla Gricia

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I watch a lot of Italian television. One of my favorites, as I also mentioned back then, is a series called "Bulletproof Heart." The lead in the series, Bruno Palmieri, played by Gigi Proietti, a retired journalist who dedicated his retirement to solving cold cases, reminded me very much of an Italian version of one of my former English professors who told me that my eventual husband would be the perfect man for me. I found him quite endearing, particularly enjoying the scenes of him in the kitchen. In the final episode of the series he made something called Pasta alla Gricia that I just had to try. He made his version with rigatoni, but upon doing a little bit of investigation I decided to try the New York Times recipe for it using spaghetti. I made sure to enjoy it, as Bruno always did, with a nice glass of wine.

 

 Proietti may not be a name with which you are familiar, but you may have heard him because in addition to be an actor and singer (he released 11 albums), he also appeared in American films including The Appointment (1969), A Wedding (1978), and Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978).

Proietti was also a voice dubber of films and television shows into the Italian language. He has dubbed the voices of actors such as Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Dustin Hoffman, Paul Newman, Charlton Heston and Marlon Brando. His credits also include the role of the Genie in the Italian version of the Aladdin film series, and Draco in Dragonheart. He also provided the Italian voice of Gandalf in The Hobbit film series, as well as Sylvester from Looney Tunes during the 1960s.

 In searching to find out if there was a series 4, I came upon the devastating news that this wonderful, charming actor, passed away in 2020 from a heart attack at the age of 80. RIP Gigi, this is for you.

Pasta Alla Gricia

By Mark Bittmann, and seen in The NY Times

 8 oz. guanciale (cured pig’s jowl)*, cut into ¼” pieces

½ t. finely ground black pepper, plus a pinch

¾ lb. tonnarelli or other long pasta like linguine or spaghetti

¼ c. finely grated pecorino Romano

 Cook the guanciale in a large skillet over medium heat until deeply golden (adjust the heat as necessary to render the fat without burning the meat). The meaty parts should be browned and the fatty parts should be cooked but still slightly transparent. This will take 15 to 20 minutes. When it’s done, add the black pepper and turn off the heat.

 Meanwhile, put a pot of salted water on to boil. When the water boils, cook the pasta until it’s al dente, nearly but not quite done and still a bit chalky in the middle.

 When the guanciale has cooled a bit, and while the pasta is cooking, add 3/4 cup of the pasta cooking water to the pan, turn the heat to high and reduce by about half.

 When the pasta is ready, use tongs to transfer it to the pan with the sauce. Stir the pasta as it finishes cooking, adding more pasta cooking water if necessary until the pasta is done and the sauce thick and creamy. Add half the cheese and a pinch of pepper, and stir vigorously to incorporate.

Divide the pasta among four dishes, and dust each with the remaining pecorino.

 *Nope. Not doing it. I used bacon. You can substitute the same, or use pancetta.

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