Spaghetti Daube in Creole Gravy

Ingredients:

3 to 5 pound beef chuck or rump roast

2-3 tablespoons of canola oil

2 large onions, chopped

2 stalks of celery, chopped

1 large green bell pepper, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tablespoons of tomato paste

2 (28 ounce) cans of whole tomatoes

1 (8 ounce) can of tomato sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup of beef broth (or red wine)

Splash of Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon of salt

8 turns of the pepper grinder

1/2 teaspoon of Slap Ya Mama, or your

favorite Cajun/Creole seasoning

1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

1/2 tablespoon of dried parsley

1 large bay leaf

Grated nutmeg

Cooked spaghetti noodles

Shredded Parmesan cheese, optional


Directions:

Set roast aside to come to room temperature.


Pour enough canola oil into the bottom of a heavy, stainless stockpot and heat to medium high. Add onion, celery and bell pepper and cook until softened, but not brown. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Stir in the tomato paste and cook and stir for about 5 minutes. Using a pair of kitchen shears, coarsely cut up both cans of the whole tomatoes right in the can; add to pot. Add the tomato sauce and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning, Italian seasoning, parsley, and bay leaf. Pass a whole nutmeg over a microplane 3 or 4 times and stir in the beef broth and Worcestershire; bring up to a boil. Cut the roast in half, add it to the pot, cover, reduce heat to a low simmer, and cook for 2 to 3 hours or until beef is tender. Don't allow the meat to boil! Keep it at a very low simmer.

Remove the beef from the pot, slice into 1/2 inch slices (if you are making Daube Glace, reserve some of these whole slices) and then shred pieces with a fork, add the shredded beef back to the tomato gravy. Let it continue to low simmer, covered, another 15 minutes, or just hold the pot on very low until you are ready to serve. You can also leave it as whole slices if you prefer, returning the slices to the gravy to simmer a bit, and then serving the slices on top of the spaghetti noodles, with a bit of sauce spooned over the top.

Boil the spaghetti noodles according to package directions; drain well. Return noodles to pot and add a couple of scoops of the tomato gravy, stirring to coat all of the noodles. Turn the noodles out onto a large platter and pour sauce over the top, or plate noodles individually and add a couple of hearty scoops of the meat and sauce.

Serve with Parmesan cheese at the table for sprinkling on top. Add a mixed garden salad on the side and a nice chunk of hot, buttered French bread.




*Courtesy of Deep Dish South