Beef Daube Provençal

As I mentioned in the post about the slow cooker curry, my childhood memories of a crock pot are not necessarily the fondest.  In fact, when I mentioned to my mom that I was making beef stew, her response was "I thought you didn't like beef stew?"  Clearly I was not so great at hiding my feelings about that red "gravy."

I made this stew the day of the nasty blizzard that shut down the mid-atlantic region.  This was the perfect day for a hearty meal that involved minimal effort.  I threw everything into the crock pot and hoped for the best.  I learned a very important lesson about crock pots that day.  Part of the beauty of a crock pot is being smacked in the face with the rich aroma of dinner when you first open the door.  Being forced to sit one room away and smell the succulent dinner slow-cooking its way to deliciousness - that's just torture.

This recipe exceeded all of my expectations.  It's rich and hearty.  It was warming and filling as well.  You can see in the picture above that I substituted orzo for the egg noodles.  I didn't think that pasta justified a trip in the severe weather.  Orzo was fine, but the egg noodles would have been better - more like a french version of beef stroganoff.

My one alteration to this recipe might be to try a cheaper cut of beef.  While there is always the risk of ending up with dried out beef chunks, I don't know that the boneless chuck was necessary.  Since the meat is cut into small pieces and it cooks for so long, I wouldn't think that a lesser quality cut would have too much of a negative impact.  Regardless of which cut of meat you use, this recipe is a must try.