French Fridays with Dorie - my go-to beef daube

This is Dorie's go-to beef daube...and it will forever more be mine too!  This is one fabulous dish.  When we were in France this summer, friends had us over for our last night at the farm house and made Boeuf Bourguignon, which is similar to a daube.  The bourguigon is a fairly simple dish to make (unless you're following Julia's recipe) and the daube really is too.  Get a good cut of meat, season it with lovely winter vegetables and a bouquet garni, add lots of red wine and then braise for a couple of hours.  What you end up with is a little bit of heaven.

Gather your ingredients

Admire the lovely produce

Admire a little more

You have to admire the meat too, you don't want it to feel left out, after all it is the star of this show!

Put your herbs together in a bouquet garni (that's just fancy talk for wrapping up the fresh herbs in cheesecloth)

All tied up!

Everything is better when you start with bacon

Browning the meat in bacon fat...yum, yum

Onions and shallots get to sweat

Carrots and parsnips join the fun (don't leave out the parsnips, they're important!)

Almost forgot the garlic

Every thing's ready to cook for a couple of hours

When it's all done, here's what you get

Up close and personal...too personal?

I made Dorie's herbed spaetzle to go with and it was fabulous!

The spaetzle was so yummy!

The daube had layers and layers of flavor.  The smoky bacon was underneath everything, the herbs added just the right amount of perfume and the wine tied everything together.  I used Dorie's suggestion of a coastal syrah (from Kendall Jackson) and it was perfect!  I'm going back to the store and buy a case...this is the wine to use for stews.

If you are looking for the perfect way to show your family some wintertime love, this is the meal for you!  If you'd like the recipe, buy Dorie's book (don't worry, I don't make a commission...I just want to make sure Dorie sells enough books so she can write another one!).  If you'd like to see what everyone else at FFwD made this week, check it out.  If you are feeling inspired to join the club, do it.  It's so much fun and we are cooking so many great things...the more the merrier!  Leave a comment and let me know what you think.