Boeuf à la Niçoise

Sunday 2 October

It's been really chilly this week, so we wanted a big beef stoo to warm us up.  Scrabbled in the freezer, and found a 5-pound beef round we'd bought on sale and saved for just this kind of situation.  Of course it took two days to defrost, but that gave us a little time to buy the orange and olive that make this recipe special.

Though we admire Mireille Johnston's Cuisine of the Sun, we generally simplify her recipes.  For example, her version of this one takes three whole days.  We slice that down to two - one to marinate, and one to cook AND eat (she lets her stew sit for a day so she can skim off the fat that she introduced by putting salt pork and pork rind in.  We skip both, so that step's not needed).  But of course, we try to make plenty, because stew is so much better the second time around anyway. 

Step 1: Marinating

4 lbs. (approx.) boneless beef, trimmed, cut into inch cubes

salt

olive oil

3 large onions, chopped

1 carrot, sliced

1 stalk celery, chopped

3 cups red wine

1 garlic clove, roughly chopped

1 bay leaf

several sprigs thyme

several sprigs parsley

Salt the beef (with about a teaspoon).  In a pan, heat some olive oil and sauté onions, carrot, and celery for 5 mins.  Stir in wine, garlic, and herbs, and cook 20 mins.  Let cool, and combine with meat in a big bowl.  Cover and put in the fridge overnight.

Step 2: Cooking

olive oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 large onions, chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped

2 tsps. fresh thyme

rind of a small orange (avoid the white pith)

2 cloves

6 carrots in large slices

1/2 cup black oil-cured olives (we use Moroccan)

2 Tbsp. parsley, chopped

Start in the morning of the day you want to eat.  Drain the beef and reserve the marinade (we put a wire rack over a bowl and pour the marinade into it, while the rack catches the solids).  Pat the beef cubes dry, and sauté them in olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pan, turning them so each side browns evenly, about 10 mins.  Add the garlic and sauté 5 mins.; then add onions, tomatoes, thyme, the orange rind stuck with the two cloves, the carrots, and the marinade with all the vegetable solids.  You can then simmer it covered for 2 hours in the Dutch oven, or pour it into a crockpot and let it go all day. 

When it's done, pick out any woody bits you don't like, stir in the olives, and simmer a half hour more.  We leave in the orange rinds, which are soft now, but pick out the cloves, bay leaves and thyme wood.  Serve with a sprinkle of parsley over it, and a big glass of a big red.

Step 3: Eating.

Self-evident.  And there should be enough for at least another dinner of leftovers.