Beef Daube Provencal

Well lovely followers (or maybe just Talia), as you may or may not know, I love sweets (see my doughnut post here), so I do not blog as frequently about the non-decadent foods that I make.  However, in honor of my dear, sweet, loving grandmother celebrating another fabulous year on this earth, I had her over for a celebratory dinner the other day and made this lovely beef stew.  It was quite easy and well worth the (minimal) effort, so try it some time!  This recipe is courtesy of cooking light, so it is healthy, hardy meal that is good for the upcoming fall and winter evenings.

Your ingredients

Heat the oil and garlic until fragrant, then saute the meat until browned.

Remove the beef and deglaze the pan with the wine.  Add the beef back to the pot along with the remaining ingredients.  

Bring to a boil then cover and put in the oven for 2 1/2 hours.

Your finished stew after 2 1/2 hours in the oven.

 Beef Daube Provencal

Ingredients
2 teaspoons of olive oil (I used extra virgin olive oil, which worked out well)
12 crushed garlic cloves
1 (2-pound boneless chuck roast), trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 cup of red wine (I used Merlot)
2 cups chopped carrots (I used 2 cups of baby carrots)
1/2 cup beef broth, low sodium (I used beef stock from Swanson)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary (I omitted this because the store was out)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
Dash of ground cloves
1, 14.5 ounce, can of diced tomatoes, undrained
1 bay leaf
**I also added portobello mushrooms to this dish and they turned out nicely**

Directions
1.  Preheat the oven to 300F.
2.  Heat the oil in a dutch oven or heavy bottom large pot over low heat and add the crushed garlic; heat for ~5 minutes until fragrant.  Remove garlic from pan and set aside.
3.  Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the beef to the pan.  Sprinkle the beef with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.  Cook for a total of 5 minutes, browning the beef on all sides.  Remove beef from pan and set aside.
4.  Deglaze the pan by pouring the wine into the pan, bring to a boil, and scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
5.  Add the garlic, beef, and remaining ingredients to the pan and bring to a boil.
6.  Cover and bake at 300 F for 2 1/2 hours.  Discard the bay left and serve.  I served this dish with mashed sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli.  You could also serve it over egg noodles or rice.  It would also pair nicely with a squash, which are coming into season soon!

Enjoy!