Daube                        

And yet another wonderful recipe from the French side of the family. This is a delicious stew like creation, poured over noodles, and sprinkled with Swiss cheese... Yumm!!

Ingredients:

3 lbs Beef Pot Roast
1 Can chopped tomatoes, drained
6-8 Carrots
1 Large Onion, chopped
2 Beef Bouillon cubes
Swiss Cheese
2 Tablespoons flour
1 bottle of a nice Cabernet Sauvignon
Pinch of Thyme
Bay leaves
Rigatoni Noodles

Scenario:

    This meal is prepared somewhat like my other recipe, the Vol-Au-Vent, but it truly is a completely different meal. Start off by cutting the pot roast into chunks, at least 1 inch cubes. Brown the meat in a little oil until it is very brown. Click on the pictures to the right to see what the meat should look like. And don't get confused by the fact I changed pans half way through. Use a big pan.

    When the meat is nice and brown (but not burnt), remove the meat from the pan, and add the chopped onions. Sautee the onions until they are nice and soft. Now, add the drained tomatoes, return the meat, and let this cool for 10 minutes. 

    Next, add a little water (maybe 1/4 cup), 2 tbs flour and mix. Again, click on the picture to see what it should look like at this point

    Now, add 3/4 of a bottle of a good Cabernet Sauvignon. Save the last 1/4 of the bottle for sipping. Remember the old motto, never cook with a wine you would not be willing to drink! Add the sliced carrots and enough water so all the meat is covered. Dissolve 1 cube of beef bouillon in a little of bit of water, and add that. You may use your favorite beef stock or canned beef bouillon, I won't mind.

    Add 1 chopped garlic clove, a pinch or two of thyme, 1 or 2 bay leaves and a generous amount of pepper. Cook for at least 2 hours. While this is cooking, you may find it difficult keeping your guests from wandering into the kitchen to steal a taste. The smell from this concoction is delightful, I'm just sorry that my scratch and sniff software doesn't seem to be working. Don't be frightened by the strong smell of wine at first, after 30 minutes or so of cooking, the wine smell goes away and the Daube will begin to take on it's appropriate look and aroma. Sorry I don't have pictures of it cooking, next time I make it I will take one.

    When the meal is done cooking, it will be a little runny. That's OK. Daube is not intended to have a thick consistency, it's not a stew. If you want to thicken it up a little, you can put a few pieces of the onions and tomatoes, with maybe 1 teaspoon of corn starch, and mix this in something like a hand held Braun mixer. This is optional, my relatives never did that. 

    Cook the rigatoni noodles as directed on the box, and drain. Don't overcook the pasta!

    It's time to eat!!! Yippee!!! Place some of the cooked rigatoni on a plate and spoon the daube onto the noodles. Finish this by sprinkling with grated Swiss cheese. If you love cheese, add a lot. If you don't love cheese, either use a little, or don't cook this at all and get out of my kitchen!

    See the picture at the top of the page to see what the final creation should look like, or click the thumbnail below. Enjoy!!!!