Flemish Beef In Beer Recipes

BEER-BRAISED BEEF AND ONIONS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine salt, pepper, bay leaves and paprika. Toss meat to coat, then cover, refrigerate and marinate at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a large (8-quart) Dutch oven or other heavy pot, heat butter and oil over medium-high until shimmering. Working in batches, brown beef on two sides until dark and crusty, transferring to a bowl when browned (reserve bay leaves). As you cook, add more oil and adjust heat if necessary to prevent burning.
• When all the meat is browned, add onions to the empty pot and return the heat to medium-high if you lowered it. Cook, stirring and scraping up the brown coating on the bottom of the pan as the onions release their liquid.
• Continue cooking until onions are deeply golden brown and soft, 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, make a bouquet garni by tying thyme, parsley and reserved bay leaves together with kitchen string (or just throw them in the pot and warn your guests not to eat them).
• Push the onions to the sides, then add tomato paste, coriander and cinnamon to the bottom of the pan. Cook, stirring, 1 minute, until paste is darkened and fragrant. Stir in flour, cook another minute, then add stock, beer, 1 cup water and bouquet garni. Return beef and any juices in the bowl to the pot, bring to a simmer, then cover and transfer to oven. Cook until beef is tender, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, turning it over halfway through.
• If the sauce seems thin, remove the meat with a slotted spoon; cover with foil to keep warm. Return pot with liquid to stove and simmer until thickened to taste, 5 to 10 minutes. Return the meat to pot and stir to heat through. Serve from the pot or a platter. Garnish with chopped parsley, flaky sea salt, pepper and paprika. Serve with mustard on the side.

CARBONADE FLAMANDE - FLEMISH BEEF AND BEER STEW/CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 170C, 340F, gas mark 3.
• Make sure the pieces of beef are thoroughly dry, using paper towels.
• In a flame-proof casserole, heat the butter and olive oil. Add the bacon cubes and fry them until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon. Reserve.
• Make sure your flame-proof casserole is thoroughly heated. Place the pieces of beef and brown them on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon. Keep warm.
• Place the onions and garlic on the bottom of the casserole dish and cook until transparent (lightly golden). Season well with salt and pepper.
• Add the sugar and mix thoroughly. Cook until a light caramelisation appears then add the red wine vinegar. Mix thoroughly then cook for 2 minutes.
• Add the cooked beef and bacon to the dish. Mix carefully to make sure there is a full marriage of the flavours of the meat with the onions.
• Pour the beer then the beef stock until the meat is entirely covered with liquid. Add the bouquet garni.
• Cut the slices of bread then spread Dijon mustard on the bread. Cover the meat with the bread.
• Place in the oven. The carbonade should cook slowly between 2 and 3 hours, or in a crockpot for up to 5 hours on high.
• When cooked mix the bread thoroughly by breaking it up in the dish, the bread works as a thickener for the sauce. Taste then adjust the seasoning. Serve hot.
• In Belgium the carbonade will be served with chips/fries/frites. In Northern France, it will be served with either braised chicory in butter or red cabbage.

FLEMISH BEEF STEW COOKED IN BEER

Steps:

• Season the beef cubes with the salt and pepper and dredge with the flour. Shake off any excess.
• Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large heavy skillet over high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the beef cubes and sauté until nicely browned on all sides. Work in batches so as not to crowed the beef cubes, or they will steam instead of sauté. Add 1 tablespoon of butter, if necessary. Transfer the beef cubes to a heavy Dutch oven.
• Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter to the skillet and melt over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 15 minutes. If necessary, raise the heat toward the end of the cooking time. It is important to brown the meat and onions evenly to give the stew its deep brown color. The trick is to stir the onions just enough to avoid burning them but not so often as to interrupt the browning process. Combine the onions with the meat in the Dutch oven.
• Deglaze the skillet with the beer, scraping with a wooden spoon to loosen any brown bits, and bring to a boil. Pour the beer over the meat. Add the thyme and bay leaves.
• Simmer, covered, over low heat until the meat is very tender, 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Before serving, stir in the red currant jelly and vinegar; simmer for 5 minutes. This sweet-and-sour combination will give this hearty stew its authentic Flemish flavor. Remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Taste and adjust the seasoning and serve.

FLEMISH BEEF AND BEER STEW (CARBONNADE FLAMANDE)

Steps:

• Step 1 - Pat the beef cubes dry with paper towel and season them well with salt and black pepper. Let rest to near room temperature for about 30-45 minutes prior to starting cooking.
• Step 2 - On the stove top over medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a Dutch-oven. Working in batches, add the beef cubes and brown them, about 3 minutes on each side. Be careful not to overcrowd or overlap any meat cubes or they won't brown properly. It should take about 3 to 4 batches to brown 2 ½ lbs of beef. Transfer the browned beef to a separate bowl.
• Pre-heat your oven to 325F (163C) with a rack in the middle.
• Step 3 - Lower the heat to medium, add 2 more tablespoons of butter to the Dutch-oven to melt, and add the sliced onions and garlic. Cook for about 10-15 minutes until the onions are browned and caramelized.
• Step 4 - Add the flour and stir for 2 minutes until the onions are evenly coated and the flour starts to brown. This cooks the "rawness" out of the flour.
• Step 5 - Pour in the brown ale and scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Add the beef stock, thyme, bay leaves, brown sugar, browned beef cubes and stir to combine. The liquid should almost cover all the beef cubes.
• Cover with the lid and place in the oven. Let cook for 2 hours, until the beef is fork tender.
• Before serving, adjust seasoning if needed and discard of the thyme and bay leaves.

STOOFVLEES (FLEMISH BEEF STEW)

Steps:

• Peel and roughly dice the onions.
• Melt a knob of butter and about 1 tbsp of oil in a large (preferably cast-iron) casserole over medium heat. Sauté the onions until soft and just starting to brown. Remove from the casserole and put into a large container.
• Add 1 to 2 more tbsp of oil to the casserole. Season the beef and add the meat to the casserole. Brown the beef cubes over medium heat in batches. (About 7 to 8 pieces of meat per batch should do the trick.) Once browned, add each batch to the onions.
• Add the Loonse stroop/syrup and beer to the casserole and turn up the heat. Bring to a boil and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the casserole.
• Once the stewing liquid comes to a boil, add the onion and beef cubes back to the casserole, along with the cloves and bouquet garni. Give the stew-to-be a good stir and bring to a simmer.
• Next, spread 1 tbsp of mustard on each slice of bread and place both slices (mustard side down) on top of the stew. (They'll disintegrate completely, adding flavour to the stew and thickening the sauce.)
• Let the stew simmer (uncovered!) for 1.5 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Then pop a lid on and simmer for another 15 minutes. This adds a touch more moisture back to the casserole, which the dish will need. Remove from the heat.
• Remove the bouquet garni (and cloves, if you can find them). Add the tablespoon of vinegar, and give your stoofvlees a good stir.
• Now comes the most difficult part. Leave it alone for at least 12 hours (with the lid on). The flavours will build up even more. It can be eaten straight away as well, but it will always taste better the day after.

FLEMISH BEEF IN BEER

Steps:

• In a large skillet over medium-high heat brown beef in butter or margarine and oil place beef in a Dutch oven.Preheat oven to 325° F. Add butter or margarine and oil to skillet. Add onions and sprinkle with salt and pepper sauté for 10 minutes. Place onions over beef.Sprinkle garlic over onions. Sprinkle with thyme and brown sugar.In the skillet used for browning, heat broth and beer with bay leaf bring to a boil. Pour over beef. Cover and bake for 2 1/2 hours. Remove meat set aside.In a small bowl mix beer and cornstarch until smooth. Stir into liquid in the Dutch oven. Stirring over medium heat, bring to a boil and boil until thickened. Remove bay leaf. Return meat to sauce and heat through.