Boeuf en daube

Stews are not the best dishes to make good photo's. Glossy is a kind word to describe this. On to the recipe then. A "daubière" is the name for the pot you prepare it in, and "en daube" means braising meat in red-wine stock well seasoned :with herbs. Beef daubes are considered a speciality of Provence and the typical accompaniment is either macaroni or noodles. Take a look at this beautiful daubière Provencal, which comes from this website, don't you love the decor?

This is what I did:
1,5 kgs chuck roast (I used lean stew meat: lendelappen) cut into cubes.
2 tbs butter
1 onion, stuck with 2 cloves
1 cup thin carrot slices
1 cup sliced leek
parsley & rosemary (or thyme)
1 can plum tomatoes
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs minced garlic
2 Tbs flour
1 orange peel
salt & freshly ground pepper

On high heat quickly brown the peppered beef cubes in a skillet. Remove and set aside, add the oil and sauté the onions, carrots and garlic, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the flour and stir for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and stir to remove any lumps, add salt and pepper. Now transfer this to a dutch oven and add the beef, vegetables, orange peel, and approx. 2 cups of broth (enough to almost cover the beef). Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 300°. Cover the dutch oven and place in the oven for 1.1/2 to 2.1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. If the sauce seems too thick, add more broth. If your pot is not suitable for the oven, you can finish the dish on the stove but make sure it's on very, very low heat! In this case I used my Cousances pot and let it simmer on the stove for almost 3 hours. After that the meat was incredibly tender and almost falling apart when touched with a fork. Don't forget to season well, depending on the broth you use it needs quite a lot of salt.