This classic Provençal recipe comes from Provence Marinaside’s chef and owner Jean-Francis Quaglia’s mother.

It was passed down for generations in the Quaglia family and his mother Suzanne, who is also a chef, won first prize with it at the Comité Nationale Gastronomie de France in 1987. It’s also on the autumn-winter menu at Provence Marinaside.

This recipe for beef stew with red wine was originally published in New World Provence-Modern French Cooking for Friends and Family by chef Jean-Francis and Alessandra Quaglia.

Daube de boeuf

Yield: six servings

Bouquet garni

Ingredients
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs thyme
4 large sprigs parsley (including stalks)
10 cm (4 inch) piece celery stalk with leaves
two 10 cm (4 inch) pieces leek (green part)

Method
Place the bay leaf, thyme, parsley and celery on one piece of green leek.
Cover with the remaining piece of green leek.
Tie securely with fine string, leaving a length of string attached so that the bouquet garni can be easily retrieved.

Ingredients
1 bouquet garni (see above)
3 lbs boneless beef shank, cut into large cubes
3 medium onion diced
3 carrot diced
5 whole garlic cloves
4 whole cloves
750 ml red wine (Côtes-du-Rhône)
1 piece of dried orange peel (peel an orange a day or two before to let it dry out)
1⁄2 cup olive oil

Method
Take all the ingredients except the olive oil and combine them into a bowl, make sure that all the meat is covered by the red wine.
Cover and marinate overnight.
Next day, drain the meat from the liquid and keep the liquid aside.
Separate the meat from the vegetables and reserve the vegetables.
Heat a pan on high heat with ½ cup of olive oil and brown the meat on all sides—about a minute a side.
After all the meat has been seared move the meat into a pot.
Pour the marinating liquid over it and add in the reserved vegetables.
Cover and bring to a simmer on medium heat for 2.5 hours.
Make sure not to rapidly boil the stew, you will end up with strands of meat rather than chunks of meat.
Serve alongside some steamed baby carrots and fresh fettuccini as an accompaniment.