Name: Charentaise Daube of Beef with Red Wine and Cognac
Yield: Serves 4 to 6
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: 1½ tablespoons vegetable oil; Herb bouquet: 3 fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley sprigs, 3 fresh thyme sprigs, and 1 bay leaf tied together; ½ head of garlic (about 5 cloves), cloves separated and peeled; ½ pound fresh or salted pork rind, blanched 5 minutes, cut into wide strips (see Note); 12 large shallots, peeled; 8 ounces carrots, peeled and cut into ½-inch-thick rounds; 1 onion, thinly sliced; 1 pig’s foot, split lengthwise; 5 ounces pancetta, sliced; 2 tablespoons unsalted butter; Salt and freshly ground black pepper; ¼ cup cognac; 1 bottle (750 ml) dry red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon; 2 pounds beef top blade roast

Preparation info

Serves
4 to 6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking

By Paula Wolfert

Published 2009

About

Few beef stews have as rich a flavor, as buttery a texture, and as heady an aroma as this famous daube from the beautifully and gastronomically fascinating Charentes region on the Atlantic coast of France.

Traditionally, chunks of beef, a pig’s or calf’s foot, pork rind, carrots, and shallots are cooked together slowly with red wine in an earthenware pot, shaped much like a bean pot, called a câline locally. After several hours the food and rind are removed, cut into small pi