Section: Main
Belgian Stew
Traditional Flemish beef stew simmered slowly in dark Trappist brown beer with pain d'épices, mustard, and jam.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Beef (bourguignon) | — |
| Brown Beer (Westmalle trappist, or Kasteelbier bruin) | 1 bottle (75cL) |
| Onion | ~2-3 |
| Garlic | 2 cloves |
| Ginger bread (pain d’épices) | 3 slices |
| Jam (fig, prune, etc.) | Enough for 3 slices |
| Dijon Mustard | — |
| Laurel and Thyme | — |
| Salt & Pepper | — |
As you know, the main ingredient is the bourguignon beef. You need to cut it in smaller cubes. The smaller they are, the faster they’re ready…don’t cut them too small though.
If you remember how big they were when I cut them, wonderful, if you don’t then they need to fit in your hand if you make this sign 👌 with your fingers. They need to fit in the O of the sign. Weird comparison, but I couldn’t find an actual cube to compare it to.
Preparation
- Start by frying onions and garlic. We used a lot of onions, because I like them, most of the time you use only 2. So 2 onions and 2 cloves of garlic. Fry them until they are golden.
- In a second frying pan you fry the beef at the same time with a pinch of salt and pepper. Fry them until every side is a bit brown, but not too much. Otherwise your meat is going to turn out very dry. If none of your meat is pink anymore, put them in the same pot as the onions and lower the heat a bit.
- Put brown beer (very important) in the same frying pan as you baked the beefcubes. The left-over juices of the meat need to infuse with the beer. You need to “cook” the beer when it starts to bubble a bit and when you don’t smell the strong smell of alcohol anymore.
- Put the beer in the same pot as the other stuff and let it simmer. This will be your stock.
- Find pain d’épices and put mustard on one side of the slice and a confiture that you like on the other side. The more confiture you use, the sweeter it gets. The more mustard…you get the point. Put three of these slices in the pot and take some thyme and laurel and put them in as well.
- Now you need to wait for at least 2h30m.
Some important information
- Let it simmer on a low fire and check it often because it can burn fast to the bottom of the pot.
- Always put the lid on, only if the sauce gets too “watery” remove it.
- If the sauce gets too thick…best to use beef stock if you have some…but not too much though.
- The meat is done when it almost falls apart when you put a fork into it.