Flemish Beef And Beer Stew Food

CLASSIC FRENCH FLEMISH BEEF STEW

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a large bowl, toss together the beef, flour, salt, and pepper.
• Heat the canola oil and butter in a large, roomy pan and brown the beef in it on all sides in batches. If you add all the beef at once it will lower the temperature too much and the meat will boil rather than sear. Carefully watch the beef to make sure it doesn't burn though, but give it enough time to develop a nice, rich brown color-the caramelized sugars will greatly enhance the stew's flavor.
• Place all the beef back in the pan once browned and add the onions, garlic, brown sugar, parsley, bay leaf, and thyme and stir thoroughly. The onions will pick up a bit of the browned bits in the bottom of the pan.
• Raise the heat under the pan and stir in the beer and add enough beef stock to cover the beef in the pan. Bring to a boil, then cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until the beef is tender. Keep checking to make sure the beef is simmering and not boiling dry. If it seems a little dry, add a touch more stock. The liquid in the pan also should be thickening slightly.
• Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the apple cider vinegar. Let the stew stand for 10 minutes before serving. Portion into heated bowls with the potatoes and salad on the side.
• Enjoy! Note: If you are able to make this stew a day or two in advance, you will find it is even better. And, if this dish is not already magnificent, it freezes beautifully, so make a large batch and store it in the freezer. It will keep well for up to six months. Defrost thoroughly before reheating.

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 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.

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.

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.

BELGIAN BEEF STEW WITH BEER

Steps:

• Season beef with salt and pepper, saute in a Dutch oven with half of the oil over medium-high heat till browned, remove to plate.
• Add remaining oil and onions to the Dutch oven, cook till tender and browned (make sure heat is low enough that they don't burn, about medium), about 5 minutes - add garlic during the last half minute and saute with the onions.
• Meanwhile whisk the flour into the beef broth.
• Stir in beer, vinegar and thyme to the Dutch oven, heat to boiling.
• Add the broth-flour mixture, beef and bay leaves, stir till thickened and bubbly.
• Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 2 - 2 1/2 hours or till meat is tender.
• You could also use a slow cooker for this, and cook for 8 hours.