Come into our South Perth store and meet our manager Edda.
She was born and raised in Belgium and has this to say about her beautiful homeland. “Belgium is a country located in Western Europe. It’s famous for its beer, chocolate, waffles and fries with mayonnaise."
I was born in Belgium. As I couldn’t possibly name all the mouth-watering popular dishes, there is one that I would love to share with you. My all- time favourite passed on by my grandmother – ‘Carbonnade Flamande’. It’s a traditional Belgian sweet-sour beef stew, similar to the French beef Bourguignon but cooked with beer instead of red wine. This is not your quick/easy recipe, but it’s so worth the work.
I promise it’s not difficult and it is a great dish to impress friends!” SMAKELIJK ETEN!
Edda’s Carbonnade Flamande
(Belgium Beef and Beer Stew)
Serves 4
This recipe is going to win your heart in one bite! Let’s talk about what this country does best - that’s FOOD! So….Carbonnade FLAMANDE is a traditional Belgian sweet-sour beef stew. It’s similar to the French beef bourguignon but cooked with beer instead of red wine. It’s seasoned with thyme, bay leaves and mustard and it is usually served with fries or bread and accompanied by a beer. This is not your quick/easy recipe, but it’s so worth the work, I promise! It’s not difficult to make but you can plan to spend at least 2.5 hours to cook.
Ingredients
- 2 kg chuck roast , trimmed & cut into stew cubes
- 2 cans of Flemish sour ale (or Felonious Monk ’22; a Belgian dark ale)
- 3 medium onions sliced
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 3 tbs all-purpose flour
- 1.5 cups beef broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 springs of fresh thyme
- 1 tbs dark brown sugar
- 1 tbs whole grain mustard
- 1 cup chopped parsley plus more to garnish
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Marinate beef with beer, garlic, bay leaves & a pinch of salt for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
- Drain beef and reserve marinade; pat dry beef with paper towels.
- In a Dutch oven, heat olive oil until piping hot. Fry beef in batches until golden brown on all sides.
- Remove beef cubes and reserve.
- In the same Dutch oven, add onions with a pinch of salt until caramelised.
- Add flour & cook for about 2 minutes until flour is cooked & onions are coated.
- Add beef broth & scrape the bits stuck in the bottom.
- Add reserved marinade, beef, thyme & some fresh pepper to taste.
- Bring to boil, then bring to full simmer.
- Reduce heat to low, partially cover & cook, stirring occasionally 2-3 hours or until beef is fork tender.
- Add brown sugar, parsley, some fresh pepper & mustard. tip: on 2 slices of bread, spread mustard on both sides to help to thicken the sauce.
- Cook for 30 minutes
- Adjust seasoning, sprinkle some fresh parsley on top
- Serve with fries, potatoes or bread.