Beef Daube Provençal

Serves 6

2 tablespoons olive oil
12 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (2-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
1½ teaspoons salt, divided
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 cup red wine
2 cups chopped carrot
1½ cups chopped onion
½ cup less-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
dash of ground cloves
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 bay leaf

1. Preheat over to 300°.

2. Heat olive oil in a small Dutch oven over low heat. Add garlic to pan; cook for 5 minutes or until garlic is fragrant, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon; set aside. Increase heat to medium-high. Add beef to pan. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef from pan. Add wine to pan, and bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add garlic, beef, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, carrot, and all remaining ingredients to pan; bring to a boil.

3. Cover and bake at 300° for 2 and 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaf.

NOTE: to make in a slow cooker, prepare through Step 2. Place beef mixture in an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH for 5 hours.

Served over egg noodles (I served the boys' egg noodles separately.)

Results: My initial reaction while preparing this meal was that it was not kid-friendly at all. However, Henry ate every single bite of his. He loved it. Steven wouldn't try it, BUT, he sat down and didn't complain. I consider that a success! Chris summed this meal up perfectly when he came home from work and said "Mmmmm...it smells like Christmas in here!" This was a very yummy meal, and I love one-pot cooking! My original intent was to use the slow cooker method, but I ran out of time, so I used the dutch oven instead.

P.S. Chris and I had the leftovers for dinner another night and they were even better! I think the meat had extra time to soak up the flavors, because it was delicious!