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Beef, Orange and Olive Stew (Boeuf à la Gardiane)
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Our version of this hearty stew from Camargue, in the south of France, uses chuck roast, a well-marbled cut. It gets robust flavor from Provençal ingredients—red wine, olives, anchovies and garlic. Orange is traditional, too; it lends the braise a balancing touch of brightness that balances its depth and richness. Wine is key to this dish and we wait until the beef is cooked before we add it, retaining more of the flavors. A bold, full-bodied dry red wine such as Côtes du Rhône or syrah is ideal, as it holds its own among the other big flavors. Serve with rice, egg noodles or potatoes.
6-8
Servings
Tip
Don’t forget to zest the orange before juicing it—it’s much easier to grate the zest from a whole orange than from one that’s been halved and squeezed. Don’t add all of the carrots to the pot with the beef. Adding some at the beginning gives the stew a subtle sweetness, but after hours of braising, these carrots are spent. We add more carrots near the end of cooking so that they are tender but still flavorful.
4½ hours
1 hour active
6-7 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, well trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut crosswise into ½-inch rounds, divided
3 anchovy fillets, patted dry
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 cup pitted Kalamata olives, rinsed, patted dry and chopped, divided
2½ cups dry red wine
1 medium red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon grated orange zest, plus ⅓ cup orange juice
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 cup lightly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Ingredients
-
6-7
pounds boneless beef chuck roast, well trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
-
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
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4
medium carrots, peeled and cut crosswise into ½-inch rounds, divided
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3
anchovy fillets, patted dry
-
2
tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
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2
medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
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1
medium yellow onion, chopped
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1
cup pitted Kalamata olives, rinsed, patted dry and chopped, divided
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2½
cups dry red wine
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1
medium red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
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1
tablespoon grated orange zest, plus ⅓ cup orange juice
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2
teaspoons red wine vinegar
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1
cup lightly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Directions
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01Heat the oven to 325°F with a rack in the lower-middle position. In a large Dutch oven, toss the beef with 1 tablespoon salt and 2 teaspoons pepper. Add ½ the carrots, the anchovies, oil, garlic and onion, then toss. Cover, transfer to the oven and cook for 2 hours.
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02Remove the pot from the oven and stir in ½ cup of the olives. Return to the oven uncovered and cook until a knife inserted into a piece of beef meets no resistance, 1 to 1½ hours.
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03Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meat to a large bowl, leaving the vegetables in the pot. Set a fine mesh strainer over a fat separator or medium bowl. Pour the meat juices into the strainer, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard the solids. You should have about 2½ cups liquid; if needed, add water to make up the difference.
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04Pour the wine into the now-empty pot and bring to a boil over medium-high, scraping up any browned bits. Reduce to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the wine is reduced by half, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, if you strained the meat juices into a bowl, use a spoon to skim off and discard the fat from the surface.
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05Pour the defatted meat juices into the pot and add the remaining carrots and the bell pepper. Return to a simmer and cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the sauce is slightly thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the orange juice and beef. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce begins to cling to the meat, 3 to 6minutes.
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06Off heat, stir in the remaining ½ cup olives, the orange zest, vinegar and half of the parsley. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the remaining parsley.
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Reviews
Hi Myrna,
Braising meats with minimal liquid in a covered pot allows the meat to cook gently in its own juices. The method concentrates juices that can later make richly flavored sauces. You'll find more tips and trick like this in our latest cookbook "Milk Street: The New Rules."
Best,
The Milk Street Team
there are no liquids added and that's fine but then you get to a step where magically 2.5 cups of liquid somehow exist.
In a pressure cooker that may be so, but in a dutch oven, in a steam oven on "moist" there was almost no liquid at all.
"If needed, add with water" reads like english as a second language, but I think it means that if you don't have 2.5 cups, make it up with water.
It stressed me out because it made me worry i'd done something wrong earlier on. But I guess it is simply assuming more liquid.
All that said, I cooked this yesterday and the flavors were layered, complex, and intriguing. Though it came out a bit salty for my taste and I'd cut the salt in half next time.
Kayla - The liquid at the end of step 3 might seem magical, but it's coming from three reliable sources: carrots, onion, and the meat itself. The heat, and the salt present in the pot, help to pull moisture out of these ingredients, and the heavy lid traps steam and recirculates it into the pan to produce the 2.5 cups. The quantity of liquid that you observe will vary depending on the size and freshness of your carrots and onion and the tightness of the seal between the lid and the pot, which is why we recommend adding water as needed (that odd language has been corrected, by the way). This dry braise method produces a final dish with intensely concentrated flavor - I'm glad to hear that's what you experienced when you made it! - April D.
Kayla - The liquid at the end of step 3 might seem magical, but it's coming from three reliable sources: carrots, onion, and the meat itself. The heat, and the salt present in the pot, help to pull moisture out of these ingredients, and the heavy lid traps steam and recirculates it into the pan to produce the 2.5 cups. The quantity of liquid that you observe will vary depending on the size and freshness of your carrots and onion and the tightness of the seal between the lid and the pot, which is why we recommend adding water as needed (that odd language has been corrected, by the way). This dry braise method produces a final dish with intensely concentrated flavor - I'm glad to hear that's what you experienced when you made it! - April D.
there are no liquids added and that's fine but then you get to a step where magically 2.5 cups of liquid somehow exist.
In a pressure cooker that may be so, but in a dutch oven, in a steam oven on "moist" there was almost no liquid at all.
"If needed, add with water" reads like english as a second language, but I think it means that if you don't have 2.5 cups, make it up with water.
It stressed me out because it made me worry i'd done something wrong earlier on. But I guess it is simply assuming more liquid.
All that said, I cooked this yesterday and the flavors were layered, complex, and intriguing. Though it came out a bit salty for my taste and I'd cut the salt in half next time.
Kayla - The liquid at the end of step 3 might seem magical, but it's coming from three reliable sources: carrots, onion, and the meat itself. The heat, and the salt present in the pot, help to pull moisture out of these ingredients, and the heavy lid traps steam and recirculates it into the pan to produce the 2.5 cups. The quantity of liquid that you observe will vary depending on the size and freshness of your carrots and onion and the tightness of the seal between the lid and the pot, which is why we recommend adding water as needed (that odd language has been corrected, by the way). This dry braise method produces a final dish with intensely concentrated flavor - I'm glad to hear that's what you experienced when you made it! - April D.
Kayla - The liquid at the end of step 3 might seem magical, but it's coming from three reliable sources: carrots, onion, and the meat itself. The heat, and the salt present in the pot, help to pull moisture out of these ingredients, and the heavy lid traps steam and recirculates it into the pan to produce the 2.5 cups. The quantity of liquid that you observe will vary depending on the size and freshness of your carrots and onion and the tightness of the seal between the lid and the pot, which is why we recommend adding water as needed (that odd language has been corrected, by the way). This dry braise method produces a final dish with intensely concentrated flavor - I'm glad to hear that's what you experienced when you made it! - April D.
I made this today; I didn't have a chuck roast, especially a 6 to 7 lb one...would have cost me a fortune. But I used almost 3 lbs of stew beef. I also didn't have red wine or red wine vinegar, but I had Moscato and white wine vinegar. I did not put anchovies in, as I'm allergic to them. Everything else was exactly as the recipe stated, including how long and the amounts. After the three hours of beef in the oven, I set it aside to finish off the recipe. That beef was so incredibly tender and tasty...I told my husband that I would cook up stew beef and cook it like that, just to nibble on as a snack. The whole dish was so appetizing and I will certainly make again. I did not eat it with noodles, but just ate it plain. My second batch of carrots was crispy and I really liked them like that. And the peppers gave it an incredible flavor. This is one I highly recommend. Bon Appetite!!!
Does anyone know specifically what cut this is from the shoulder clod? In California, they call everything by a different name and they honestly don't know how to butcher meat. It is so frustrating.
Hi Michael -
At Milk Street we use Diamond Crystal kosher salt, which is a coarser kosher salt. We like Diamond Crystal because the crystals are easy to handle and attach well to the surfaces of meat, fish and vegetables. However, because of its coarseness it can weigh less than the same volume of other styles and brands of salt. The smaller the salt crystal, the more it weighs in a given volume, and therefore the more salt you are getting. For example, 2 teaspoons of Diamond Crystal kosher salt is equal to 1 teaspoon of table salt or 1 heaping teaspoon of Morton's coarse kosher salt or fine sea salt. If you are using a different style (table or sea salt, for instance) or brand of kosher salt it could affect the saltiness of the dish.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
I've got a boneless beef chuck roast in my freezer and am looking for something awesome to make with it in my slow cooker tomorrow. This braise seems like it might be well-suited to slow cooker. Any adaptations you would suggest?
Hi Rachel -
We haven't tried this one in the slow cooker so we aren't sure on the timing or how it might work. If you do decide to try it, you will want to finish the recipe on the stovetop to reduce the sauce and cook the remaining vegetables. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Best,
The Milk Street Team
6 to 7 lbs? How many peopke does this serve? Can it be frozen? No way 2 of us can eat all that even over two nights.
I got distracted and missed the instruction to cook the meat UN-covered after adding the olives. Even with that error, the meat came out nicely browned from the dry heat inside the Dutch oven. I appreciate these Milk Street recipes that spare you the hassle and mess of browning meat in oil. Curiously, even after cooking it covered, there was only about 3/4 a cup of liquid left behind, so I would be a little concerned that it might dry out too much if cooked uncovered. Anyway, it came out very tasty in the end. I do agree with another commenter that the level of salt may be a little aggressive for some, even when using a coarse salt like Diamond Crystal (which I did). Two tablespoons of kosher salt works out to about 1 teaspoon per pound of meat, which is reasonable, but then you have to consider the additional salt contributed by the anchovies and olives. While the final dish wasn’t overly salty for my taste, it did get pretty close to the edge. I’d probably cut back by at least a teaspoon next time.
Made half the recipe, which has turned out to be enough for at least 8 servings. It's very rich and delicious, especially the orange, which adds considerable depth. The difficulty is that the recipe yields very little sauce. I realized the problem has two causes. First, in cutting the recipe in half I should have cut the time to reduce the wine by 30% or so. Second, during the step 5, it has you simmer the vegetables uncovered for 10-15 minutes. During this time virtually all the liquid cooks away. Instead, cook covered, or cook uncovered for part of the time and covered the rest.
Suzanne - instead of red wine in this recipe, yes, you can use a beef stock, though I would recommend spiking it with a bit of citrus to stand in for the acidity that the wine brings. An ideal sub would be to use about 1/2 cup pomegranate or cranberry juice (unsweetened) in addition to 2 cups of stock, which will give you a nice approximation of the fruitiness and acidity of red wine. However, you can also simply add 2-4 tablespoons of lemon juice or additional red wine vinegar to account for the acidity.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
This is an amazing meal. The orange juice and zest was such a complement to the other flavors. Served it over riced cauliflower as we are trying to avoid starches. I made a half recipe since there are only two of us. Baked it covered for the full 2 hours, but assessed meat tenderness after only a half hour uncovered. It was done at that point. I might dial back the Morton’s Kosher Salt a bit next time, but used the full amount because I thought it would be needed to draw the moisture out of the meat. Turned out delicious.
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Your First Issue
There seems to be no liquid added to the first Hal’s of the cooking?