Cold Night Beef Dinner

It is freezing cold.  I mean frost bite and negative temperatures cold.  Last night the temp was dropping and because of the cold, I wanted to make a really warm dinner for the family.  All day long I was thinking of recipes that I could make and then it hit me, I could make a beef stew.  That would warm the house and our tummies!

I did not want to make my normal beef stew, which is an Irish stew that I only make on St. Patrick's Day.  I did a little online research and found this delicious recipe from Cooking Light.  I made some changes to the recipes, but the inspiration came from the Cooking Light recipe.  It fit the bill and will now will become part of our winter recipe rotation. 

 

 

Here is my version of the recipe. 

 

Beef Daube Provencal

 

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil

13 cloves of crushed garlic

3 lbs of stew meat

1 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 cup red wine

2 cups carrots

1 cup diced onion

1/2 cup low-sodium beef broth

2 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon mined fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 can diced tomatoes

2 bay leaves

3 cups cooked egg noodles

 

Directions

 

1.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

 

2. Heat dutch oven over low heat and add olive oil.  Let oil warm up and then add the crushed garlic.  Let the garlic cook for a few minutes until you start to smell the garlic.  Stir the garlic occasionally, to prevent burning.  Once garlic is fragrant, remove the garlic with a spoon and set aside.  You will need it later. 

 

3.  Increase heat of the pan and add the stew meat.  Season with some salt and pepper.  Brown all side of the meat.  When all meat is brown, remove from pan and set aside.  I used the same bowl as the garlic. 

 

4.  Add wine to pan (I used Merlot) and bring to a boil.  Stir frequently and scrap pan to remove the delicious brown flavorful bits from the meat.  Add the garlic, beef, salt, pepper, carrots, onion, beef broth, tomato paste, rosemary, thyme, gloves, diced tomatoes and bay leaves.  Bring everything to a boil. 

 

5.  Cover and bake at 300 degrees for 2 hours and 15 minutes, or until the meat is super tender.  Once finished cooking, set aside.  Cook the noodles.

 

6.  Serve with the noodles or over the noodles, your choice!

 

 

This meal was delicious and flavorful.  As it cooked, the smell carried throughout the entire house.  The beef was so tender, it fell apart with the fork.  The cloves added a savory taste.  I am sure the left overs from dinner will taste even better, as the flavors will marry together even more! 

 

To follow this delicious beef dinner, I made homemade hand apple pies with homemade caramel sauce.  Both hit the sweet spot after a main course full of deep flavor.  I will share the recipe soon!

 

 

 

What is your favorite cold weather meal?