Flemishbeefandbeer Recipes

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.

BEEF CARBONNADE WITH VEGETABLES: BELGIAN BEEF STEW

Steps:

• 1. Combine 2 tablespoons flour and smoked paprika in a large bowl; add the beef chunks. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Toss well to coat evenly. Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat, and add the oil. Brown the meat, in batches, taking care not to crowd the pan, turning to sear all sides, about 6 to 8 minutes per batch. Transfer the beef with a slotted spoon to a plate.
• 3. Add the onion and garlic to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally until just soft, 5 to 7 minutes, adding a few tablespoons water if the pot gets too dark or begins to burn. Add the beer, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Stir in the broth, molasses and thyme.
• 4. Return the beef and any accumulated juices to the pot. Cover and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer until the beef is tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Add the potatoes, carrots, and parsnips; continue to simmer, uncovered, until the vegetables are tender but not mushy, about 40 minutes more.
• 5. Stir together the remaining 1 teaspoon flour and melted butter to make a paste. Stir the flour mixture into the stew and simmer until the broth is slightly thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Discard the thyme sprigs and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. If desired, sprinkle with parsley. Transfer stew to a serving bowl 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.

FLEMISH BEEF STEW

Steps:

• Cook bacon in heavy large pot over medium heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Reserve bacon drippings in pot.
• Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Place flour in large bowl. Toss meat in flour, shaking off excess and reserving remaining flour in bowl. Heat drippings in pot over medium-high heat. Working in 2 batches, add beef to pot and cook until just browned, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer meat to large bowl.
• Add onion and garlic to pot and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add remaining flour and stir 1 minute. Mix in broth, beer, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons thyme, and sugar. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until mixture thickens slightly, scraping up browned bits, about 15 minutes. Add beef, 1 tablespoon thyme, and 3 tablespoons parsley. Simmer until beef is cooked as desired, about 5 minutes for medium-rare. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer stew to bowls, sprinkle with 1 tablespoon parsley and reserved bacon bits, and serve.

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 ROAST (OR STEW) WITH VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Fry bacon in 5-quart Dutch Oven until crisp.
• Remove with slotted spoon; drain on paper towels.
• Cook beef in bacon fat over medium heat, turning occasionally, until brown; drain.
• Add brown sugar, salt, garlic powder, pepper, thyme, bacon, water and beer.
• Heat to boiling; reduce heat.
• Cover and simmer just until beef is tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
• (OR transfer to crock pot after boiling and cook on LOW setting for 4 to 6 hours until beef is tender).
• If serving that evening, continue onto"TO SERVE" or cover and refrigerate beef and broth separately.
• (Store no longer than 48 hours).
• TO SERVE:.
• About 45 minutes before serving, remove fat from broth.
• (If using crock pot, add vegetables for the last 1 1/2 hours).
• Heat beef and broth to boiling.
• Add vegetables; cover and simmer until beef is hot and vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.
• Remove beef and vegetables to warm platter.
• Shake water and flour in covered container; stir into broth.
• Heat to boiling, stirring or whisking constantly.
• Boil and stir for 1 minute.
• Serve with beef and vegetables.

FLEMISH BEEF STEW

Steps:

• In medium saucepan over moderate heat, melt butter. Add beef cubes and sauté, tossing occasionally, until lightly browned on most sides, about 4 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl (do not clean saucepan) and add flour, salt, and pepper. Toss to combine, then transfer to slow cooker.
• In same saucepan over high heat, bring 1 cup ale to boil, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan. Pour over beef in slow cooker. Stir in remaining 2 cups ale, onions, garlic, brown sugar, mustard, thyme, bay leaves, and cloves. Cover and cook on low 6 hours. Add bread and continue cooking until meat is tender and sauce has thickened, 2 to 3 hours more.
• Stir in lemon juice. Garnish with basil or parsley and serve hot.

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.