Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Dorie Greenspan's Go-To Beef Daube with Saint-Germain-Des-Prés Onion Biscuits

I normally like to do a monthly round up of my French Fridays with Dorie recipes, but this month will be different.  I'm trying to play catch up to last month's recipes and keep up with this month's recipes as well.  I've got a lot of cooking to do!

My husband bought me a brand new Martha Stewart Dutch oven for Christmas.  Hooray!  Prior to receiving this Dutch oven, I had been using the insert in my crock pot as a "makeshift" Dutch oven.  I'm so glad that my husband took notice of my "makeshift" Dutch oven and bought me a real Dutch oven as a Christmas gift.  It really is a beautiful pot and I know that I will get years and years of good use out of it.  Making Dorie's Go-To Beef Daube was the perfect way to break it in!
I have to confess that I've never made or ate a Beef Daube before.  Turns out that a Beef Daube is pretty much a beef stew or even much like a pot roast with veggies.  The recipe begins with a  3.5 pound chuck roast that has been cut into 2- to 3-inch cubes.   Four slices of bacon are cooked in the Dutch oven until brown, then removed.  The beef cubes are then browned in the bacon fat until they have quite a bit of color.  Once the beef has achieved a deep and dark color, it is removed and set aside. 
Do you like to chop veggies?  I love chopping veggies.  It's probably one of my favorite tasks in the kitchen.  Lucky for me this recipe requires a lot of chopping.  Featured in the pan below are two yellow onions and six shallots.  I love to chop, but those onions and shallots were very strong....there were some tears involved.  I stuck my head in the freezer a few times.  Do you ever do that?  It works.  Stops the tears instantly.
After about 8 minutes, once the onions and shallots cooked down, I added one and a half pounds of carrots, a half pound of parsnips, and an entire head of garlic (with the loose papery peel removed).  My kitchen was a mess at this point.  Onion and shallot peels were everywhere, including my hair.  I didn't sweat it though.  You know why?  It was time to break out the alcohol!  Get out the Brandy and the red wine................. 
It's time for the Brandy once all the veggies have a chance to mingle together for a few minutes. Do you like to deglaze?  I do!  I love it. I poured that Brandy in the pot and waited for the sizzle.  Once you hear that sizzle then you know you are going to be in for some wonderful aromas.  Not to mention..... this is your chance to sneak a sip, or two, of the Brandy.  Believe me, look around at your kitchen.  It's messy.  You'll need a few good sips.  Possibly even more than a few sips.
Now it's time to make the bouquet garni.  Do you like to make a bouquet garni?  I love it.  There's just something about that cute little package of herbs and/or spices.  The bouquet garni for this recipe includes rosemary, thyme, parsley, and celery leaves.
The beef cubes and bacon are added back into the Dutch oven, as well as the cute little bouquet garni and then an entire bottle of red wine is added in (I like to use Cabarnet with my beef).  Thankfully I had another half bottle in the fridge left for drinking.  It came in handy when it was time to clean up my kitchen.  I love to chop.  I love to deglaze.  I love to make bouquet garni.  I DO NOT like to clean.
The Beef Daube cooks at 350F for 2-1/2 hours (with a sheet of foil and a lid over the top).  After 2-1/2 hours, it is fall-apart tender, with a deep dark and rich color, and full of flavor thanks to the red wine.  A delightful and glorious meal.  Everyone loved it, including my 9 year old daughter who tends to be picky from time to time. 
We enjoyed the Beef Daube with Dorie's Saint-Germain-Des-Prés Onion Biscuits.  The biscuits weren't one of the recipes for last month or this month, but I thought they sounded delicious and it turns out they were.  The biscuits were tender and flaky and studded with finely chopped and lightly cooked onion.  The biscuits had a mild onion flavor and went perfectly with the Beef Daube.  I would make both recipes again.

Happy Cooking!

22 comments:

  1. Happy New Year!
    You have posted some great recipes in the past few weeks. One important thing I learned in 2010 is not to read your blog when I'm hungry!
    I'm looking forward to spending 2011 with you.
    Mimi

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  2. I'm so glad you got yourself a Dutch oven. It's probably my most used kitchen toy. Mine is orange, too. It weighs a ton, but I adore it. The beef Daube looks delicious and I'll bet those biscuits were perfect with it.

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  3. What a nice job you did on that daube. We have made one before but I used way too much orange peel. Planning to try another one though.
    Love your dutch oven! I have a Lodge and my favorite...Le Creuset. They get lots of use and I know you will be very happy with yours.

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  4. I love to chop vegetables- I go to a zen place of solitude. I stick my head outside in the winter air to clear away the onion tears - next time the freezer! And love to de-glaze - so satisfying stirring up those brown bits of flavor. I made this recipe (sans bicuits) and loved the deep earthiness of it. Next time I had better do the biscuita. This was the perfect meal to break in your wonderful pot! Happy days ahead...

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  5. That dutch oven is GORGEOUS Kim! That is one piece of cooking equipment that i have yet to purchase. And this stew. Oh this stew. It sounds like one big pot of comfort!

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  6. Clearly we are kitchen-task soul-sisters - I too love to chop, love to deglaze (especially important to deglaze the cook at the same time if you get my drift), love making the little bouquet garnis, but yep - cleaning not so much! I once had a flatmate who hated cooking but really liked cleaning - if she'd been a man I would have married her! Love your beautiful new dutch oven - jealous!
    Sue :-)

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  7. This sounds really warm and yummy on a rainy pacific NW day...;)
    the artichoke and bean brushetta sounds delish too!!

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  8. I am dying for a Dutch oven! I love this color too. Your stew looks warm and satisfying and the onion biscuits looks heavenly! I didn't know about the head in the freezer trick. Must try this! ;)

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  9. This sounds delicous...and thankgoodness you said you were using the insert from your crockpot...I thought I was the only one who did that!!!!

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  10. Sounds wonderful Kim, I want to try it. Id be sneaking the brandy too and I dont even need a dirty kitchen to do it;)

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  11. I just love reading your blog Kim, so full of tips (I'm having a great time with my growing scallions!) my family will think I'm mad putting my head in the freezer - but if it works!!!!

    Daube sounds so much better than stew - will have to make this one very soon.

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  12. This post has me dreaming of stew, biscuits and paris. Oh, its not fair! I don't want to be in crappy cold england right now.
    *kisses* HH

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  13. what a great gift, i've got to get one of those dutch ovens! this looks so delicious, and it's even better when it's fun to make. i love chopping, there's something almost therapeutic about it. and great tip about the freezer. i cry like a baby when i chop onions!

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  14. What a hearty and delicious stew! Good call on the biscuits - they look perfect for sopping up the gravy! Your new Dutch oven is beautiful!

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  15. Better the freezer than the oven! Sorry. couldn't resist. Handy tip, though!

    Great-looking meal. Daube is something that's fairly popular here, but I've never made it. Really interested in those biscuits.

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  16. i think your dutch oven is so pretty:) love the bright color too.

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  17. This sounds like an amazing meal. Love your new dutch oven!

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  18. Kim, congrats on that lovely Dutch oven! What a fantastic gift. I'm still waiting for mine. :o) And I had NO IDEA about the freezer helping the tearing from onions. I can't thank you enough, I have a real problem with that. What a gorgeous and delicious looking stew. Definitely a step up from "ordinary" stew. Since Santa didn't bring me that cookbook, I guess I'll have to take matters into my own hands, lol!

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  19. That's smart to use the insert to your slow cooker--I would've never thought of that! Love the idea though, but I like your Dutch oven alot better. I am sure many fabulous meals will come out of it--this being one of them. Yum!

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  20. Wonderful! We loved this too - great idea to pair it with the biscuits!

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  21. Well congrats on the dutch oven, it looks so pretty especially compared to my plain black one, ha ha.

    (Pretty awesome use of the insert though).

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  22. Love the bright cheery color of your Dutch oven--such a treat to have in the kitchen. ;-) The Daube looks delicious--perfect comfort food.

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