Provence in the summer is Europe’s place of warmth and light

 -  bright sunlight  - lavender fields and le cuisine du soleil!

But ……. Provence in the winter is just as special …. Be it truffles (les truffes) a long time standby for gourmets ….. or the wonderful seafood season which brings incredible shell fish at Christmas time ……… winter fruit like the intensely sweet, almost white, translucent, small grapes of winter …… winter vegetables like cardoons – a delicious vegetable that looks like celery, with coarser ribs, but has a taste that is more like artichoke .

During one of our visits to Sablet, whilst talking to Chef Johannis Sailer of Restaurant Les Abeilles, he told me that the origin of many of the traditional Provençal dishes is the fact that the Provençaux have always been hardworking people who spent their days out in the vineyards, olive groves, orchards and grain fields.  In order to be able to go out into the fields in the morning, arrive back at their homes at noon and have their mid-day meal ready to eat before returning to work in the afternoon, they would prepare it in the morning and leave it cooking slowly (known as mijoté).  By lunchtime, it was perfectly cooked and lunch could be served, eaten and enjoyed in a more leisurely fashion before returning to work. 

One of my favorite dishes that no doubt has its roots in this method of cooking is the Provençal Daube.  It’s warm, it’s hearty, it’s fragrant and rich in flavor.  It is the very essence of Provençal comfort food.

My most frequently used recipe for Daube is one which is in a Cookbook that I have three copies of – one in Maison des Pelerins, one in La Baume des Pelerins - both in Sablet, and the other at home in California. It is the  “French Farmhouse Cookbook” written by Susan Hermann Loomis - (if you haven’t read any of her cookbooks or novels, it’s well worth looking up her books – the recipes are FANTASTIC!)  Her description of the dish and the recipe, called Jacqueline Priaulet’s Daube,  which is a Beef Daube (it is also commonly made with Lamb), just makes you think of a warm winter meal on a cold evening  - by an open fire.  The perfect winter meal – Provençal Daube, a fresh green salad, warm crusty bread to mop all the delicious sauce.  Accompanied by a glass of Cote du Rhone and your favorite cheese – perhaps an Apple Clafoutis for Dessert - what more can you ask for when your Provence Dreaming in the middle of winter? 

Jacqueline Priaulet’s Daube

 – from a French Farmhouse Cookbook by Susan Hermann Loomis

10 sprigs of thyme, or ½ teaspoon dried thyme

6 imported bay leaves (bay laurel)

4 strips (3 x ½ inch) orange zest

4 ½ pounds stewing beef (round or chuck), cut into 2 inch pieces

2 ½ cups hearty red wine, such as a Côte du Ventoux or a Vacqueyras (or any Côte du Rhône)

2 tablespoons fennel seeds

9 ounces slab bacon, cut into 1 x ½ x ½ - inch pieces

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 medium onions, peeled and coarsely chopped

6 cloves garlic, peeled

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 large carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into thin rounds

1 cup olives cassées*

1.  Divide the fresh thyme, bay leaves and orange zest into to lots, and tie each lot into a bundle with kitchen string. (If you are using dried thyme, tie it and the orange zest into two small squares of cheesecloth, leaving the bay leaves separate.)

1. Place the beef, wine, 1 bundle of herbs and a tablespoon of the fennel seeds in a large nonreactive bowl. Mix well, and push the meat down so it is mostly covered with the wine.  Cover and marinate at room temperature for 6 to 8 hours, turning the meat occasionally. 
2. Drain the beef over a bowl, letting it sit for several minutes, and reserve the marinade.  Discard the herb bundle.
3. Place the slab bacon and the olive oil in a large heavy stockpot over medium high heat and sauté, stirring frequently, until the bacon is golden, about 5 minutes.  Remove the bacon from the pot with a slotted spoon and set it aside on a plate.  If there is an excess of fat, drain all but about 2 tablespoons from the pot, and thoroughly brown it on all sides. (If necessary, brown the beef in two batches.)  The beef should be good and dark – far from scorched but solidly browned.  It will take 10 to 15 minutes to brown the beef if you are doing one batch.
4. Add the reserved marinade, the onions, and the garlic cloves to the beef and stir, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.  Bring to boil over medium-high heat.  Then reduce the heat so the liquid is bubbling merrily, partially cover, and cook until the liquid has reduced and nearly evaporated, 30 to 40 minutes.

Marianne’s Note: I like to  prepare it ahead – stopping at this stage and refrigerating until I’m ready to continue. Sometimes I do the next steps in a crock pot with the timer set for 4 hours when I leave for work. If using a crockpot, use a circle of parchment paper about one inch larger than the diameter of the crockpot, that has had half inch notches cut in to the paper.  Gently ease the paper onto the top of the daube, then cover it and cook.  When you lift the lid, lift the parchment out carefully as it will have water in it.  This helps the sauce to cook down and not become diluted with the steam that condenses and drips back into the crock pot.

6. Add enough water to just cover the beef, along with the remaining bundle of herbs and the remaining 1 tablespoon of fennel seeds.  Season with salt and pepper to taste, partially cover, and cook until the beef is tender and has absorbed  much of the cooking liquid, at least 2 hours.  Check the daube occasionally, stirring to be sure it isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pan.
7. Add the carrots, cover, and cook covered until the carrots are completely tender, another 15 minutes.  Season carefully to taste.

6. To serve, remove the herb bundle and ladle the daube into warmed shallow soup bowls.

6 – 8 generous servings

Bon Apetit!

*  Olives cassées are brined with fennel and have a rich, aromatic flavor. If you can’t find them, use ordinary (but unstuffed) green olives.

Note from Susan Hermann Loomis describing this recipe…….

“I love the whole process of making daube: the marinating of the meat as it gradually turns a burgundy color, the tying of herbs into little bundles, the fragrance of the orange zest and fennel as it cooks.  Then finally there is the thrill of serving the almost black, toothsome beef that literally glistens in the bowl.  I can’t think of a better dish for a winter day, when the sum might shine but the chill goes right to your bones.” From French Farmhouse Cookbook

I can’t think of anything better on a winter’s day either!