Daube of Beef

A daube is the French grandmother of beef stew, and this version brings all that Provençal depth to a slow cooker with almost no prep. Beef chuck, white wine, brandy, and a strip of orange peel do the slow, quiet work of building a sauce that’s rich, fragrant, and deeply savory.

Chopped ham layered in with the aromatics is a classic daube move. It melts into the braising liquid and adds a smoky, salty undertone you can’t get from beef alone. The orange peel is the other signature touch. It brightens the heavy wine-and-meat broth with a subtle citrus perfume that keeps the stew from feeling one-note.

The flour-and-butter paste stirred in at the end (a beurre manié) thickens the braising liquid into a glossy, spoonable sauce in about 20 minutes on high. It’s a more refined finish than just dumping in cornstarch.

Pro Tips

• Cut the beef chuck into even 1 ½-inch cubes so everything cooks at the same rate. Uneven pieces mean some are mushy while others are still tough.
• Use a dry white wine you’d actually drink. Cooking concentrates the flavor, so cheap wine tastes worse, not better, after hours in a slow cooker.
• Remove the orange peel and bay leaf before thickening. They’ve done their job and will turn bitter if left in.
• This daube tastes even better reheated the next day. The flavors continue to develop overnight.

Variations

• Serve over egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or with crusty bread to soak up the sauce.
• Add a handful of pitted Niçoise olives in the last hour of cooking for a more authentic Provençal character.
• Swap brandy for Cognac if you have it on hand.