Easy and Delicious

We came back from a quick trip to Florida and decided to make one of our favorites Provencal Beef Stew. It is from the Patricia Wells cookbook: Bistro Cooking. The stew is all thrown in a pot, marinates overnight and cooks in the oven or on the stove top. One pot stew. It is delicious.

With it you make an easy Macaroni and Cheese from the same cookbook, using some of the juices from the stew.
Our kind of dinner!

For the first course we made Asparagus with Green Garlic and Egg using a recipe that Jason the chief at Palate Food + Wine gave us. Green garlic is in season now and it is a perfect match to the young asparagus.

Yum!

Palate Asparagus with Green Garlic and Egg
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Clean and steam fresh Asparagus
Brown butter over a low heat till bubbling
Add Green Garlic thinly sliced to the browned butter
Add salt and pepper to taste
When the garlic is soft add 1 egg per serving cooking sunny side up
Plate the Asparagus topping with egg and brown butter and sauce
Squeeze fresh lemon over the egg / Asparagus


estouffade provencale
Provencal Beef Stew
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From Bistro Cooking by Patrica Wells

For decades, this has been the Monday special at La Mere Besson, a traditional family bistro in the sun-drenched city of Cannes. Recipes don't come any easier: You combine all the ingredients one day, cook them the next, let them ripen one more day, spoon off any unwanted fat that rises to the surface, reheat, and eat. All this with only a single pot to wash! It's a lovely, moist beef stew, marinated with all the best ingredients of Provence: dense red wine, herbs of the fields, garlic, onions, and carrots. At the end, you add a touch of orange zest— fresh or dried—and you have a marvelous main course. With the estouffade, serve, a simple gratin of macaroni and Parmesan softened with the cooking liquid from the stew, or simply serve buttered noodles and pass a bowl of grated Parmesan.


• 2 1/2 pounds stewing beef, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks (a butcher can do this for you)
• 2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 carrot, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch rounds
• 1 celery rib, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 bottle (3 cups) red wine, pref¬erably Provencal
• 1 bunch of fresh thyme
• 3 imported bay leaves
• 1 strip of orange zest (about 2 inches), chopped

1. Two days before serving the stew, combine all of the ingredients, except the orange zest, in a large enameled casserole. over and refrigerate overnight.

2. The next day, bring the mixture to a simmer over low heat. Simmer gently, until the meat is very tender, 3 to 4 hours.
3. Allow the stew to cool down. Refrigerate until the fat rises to the top and can be easily scraped off with a small spoon, about 12 hours.
4. At serving time, scrape off any additional fat. Reheat until the meat is heated through, 10 to 15 minutes. Adjust the seasonings. To serve, remove the bay leave and thyme; stir in the orange zest

Yield: 8

LA MACARONADE
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Macaroni Gratin
From Bistro Cooking Patricia Wells


To prepare an authentic macaronade, you must first prepare a meat stew, either an estouffade or a daube, the traditional beef stews oi the south of France. Once the noodles have been cooked, you moisten them with the wine-rich broth, layer them with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and allow the gratin to brown lightly in the oven.

Salt
1 pound elbow macaroni
1 cup liquid reserved from a beef stew
1 cup (3.5 ounces) freshly grated imported Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat the broiler
2. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Salt the water and add
3. the pasta and cook until tender. Drain.
4. Spoon half of the noodles into a 2-quart (2 1) gratin dish. Moisten with the stew liquid. Sprinkle with half of the cheese. Add the remaining noodles, liquid, and cheese. Place under the broiler and broil just until the cheese is browned and sizzling.

Yield: 4 servings