Crock Pot Beef Daube Provencal (Beef Stew)

Now don't let the French name throw you on this one.  It's just beef stew, but there's nothing plain about it.  We're having a crock pot cook off at work tomorrow, and I chose this amazing stew as my entry.  This guy takes a lot of work, but MAN is it worth it.  I'll let you know if tomorrow's judges agree!
Update: 1st place!  Yay fancy name beef stew!

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 12 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 2-lb boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided (1/2 teaspoon and 1 teaspoon portions)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided (1/4 portions)
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cups chopped carrot
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1/2 cup 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
• Optional: serve with egg noodles, rice, or other pasta.

Directions

1. Heat oil in a small Dutch oven over low heat.  Add garlic, and cook 5 minutes or until garlic is fragrant, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon, and set aside.
2. Increase heat to medium-high.  Add roast to pan, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides.  Remove roast from pan.
3. Add wine to pan and bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.  Add garlic, roast, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and all the other ingredients (except optional pasta or rice).  Bring to a boil.
4. Carefully transfer roast mixture to a 4-quart electric slow cooker.  This step could get really messy and painful if you just dump the stew into the crock pot.  Take it easy so you don't splatter everywhere (and burn yourself in the process).  Cover and cook on HIGH 5 hours.  Discard bay leaf.  Serve over pasta or rice if desired.

You could also make this in the oven if you'd like.  Instead of transferring to the crock pot, just cover the dutch oven and bake at 300 degrees for 2 1/2 hours or until the beef is tender.