Flemish meat Perhaps, the Belgians’ favorite meat dish after steaks, judging by family and friends. You must prepare this dish with soul and a lot of patience, but you can eat it all year round: in the fall and winter with a side dish of mashed potatoes, in the summer with French fries and fresh vegetables.
Important points in the Flemish Stew recipe:
Pieces of meat of the same size
Thick-walled stewware
No flour
Fresh thyme
Sandwich with mustard down
Each family has its own recipe for preparing this national dish, sometimes with secrets that are passed down from generation to generation. I modified my mother-in-law’s recipe, replacing butter with olive oil (I still can’t get used to the fact that everything here is fried in butter), and apple syrup with brown sugar.
Flemish stew with beer, bread and mustard
Preparation
Preparation
The classic Flemish meat recipe always uses butter (the Belgians really love it) and apple syrup. I feel free to replace the butter with vegetable oil and the apple syrup with brown sugar.
Kitchen: Flemish, Belgian
Number of servings: 4
Ingredients
- 800 g beef pulp without veins
- 2 large onions
- 250 ml dark beer (ideally Belgian)
- 2-3 sprigs of thyme
- 2 pcs bay leaf
- 1 clove bud
- 1 slice of gray/dark bread
- 1 tbsp mustard
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- a little vinegar
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- salt to taste
- water or beef broth (optional)
Instructions
- Peel the onion and chop finely. In a thick-walled bowl (for example, a cauldron), heat 1 tablespoon of oil and fry the onion for about five minutes, stirring regularly. The onion should not burn, so it is better to choose medium heat. Once the onions are ready, remove the pan from the heat.
- Cut the beef into pieces of equal size. The larger the pieces, the more time you will need to cook the dish. I prefer to cut the meat into pieces about 3 by 3 cm.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the meat until golden brown, season with salt and pepper to taste. It is important to fry the meat in batches, otherwise the meat will end up boiled instead of fried. In a wide frying pan, I fry 800 grams of meat in three portions: 2-3 minutes for each portion.
- Place the fried meat on top of the onion. Pour beer into the frying pan where the meat was fried and bring to a boil, at the same time, using a wooden spatula, carefully scrape off any remaining meat stuck to the frying pan - all the relish! Once the beer has boiled, pour it into the onions and meat.
- Spread mustard on the bread and place it on top of the meat, mustard side down.
- Tie a sprig of thyme and a bay leaf with a thread (so that it is easy to remove later) and add to the meat. Also add cloves and sugar. Place the dish on the stove and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce reaches the desired thickness. You may need additional liquid: add a little water or beef broth, stirring well.
- Once the sauce has reached your desired thickness, cover with a lid and simmer until the meat is completely cooked. The entire process may take 3-4 hours. Ideally, pieces of meat should break down into individual fibers, like in a stew.
- Sprinkle the finished sauce with vinegar (optional) to balance the sour and sweet tastes in the dish. Season with salt and pepper as needed.
Eet smakelijk or bon appetit!
In winter, you want to eat dishes that are thick and rich in flavor, even if they are a bit heavy. And this winter, tired of traditional winter soups “beans + smoked meats,” we decided to experiment with different cuisines. After a trip to Italy, we made Zuppa Lucchese (more on that later) and then decided to try Flemish stew. The recipe, as I understand it, is quite old - modern Belgian cuisine is much lighter, in it the simplicity and richness of Flemish “beer” cuisine is beautifully mixed with the grace of French taste.
Actually, everyone has probably already cooked meat in beer. But there are a couple of interesting things about this recipe. I warn you - the taste is sweetish, but balanced. I give the recipe as I found it online, with my comments. From the dishes you will need one large thick-walled pot (cast iron, cauldron, cauldron, etc.). The list of ingredients is long, but easy to prepare.
- 600 grams of beef pulp - not from the best cut, it takes a long time to stew, so brisket, meat from ribs, everything will work, just cut off the veins.
- 2 tbsp. butter. More is possible.
- 4 medium onions, in half rings
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, pieces
- 0.5 l dark beer. The original recipe says “a bottle of Belgian dark beer.” So if you have Belgian, pour a bottle. And if there is any other dark beer (it seems to me that German or Czech beers will also work well) - then more, because local dark beers are rich in both taste and alcohol. Not Baltika 9!
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 2-3 bay leaves (3 small, 2 large)
- 1 tsp thyme. You can't miss it - all the flavor will go away.
- 2 tbsp. apple or pear syrup (a local thing - juice boiled with sugar). Since there are also apples in the dish, you can replace it with 2 tbsp. honey
- 1 l. beef broth.
- 4 good slices of bread (not a loaf or baguette, but heavier, denser - gray goes well).
- 4 tbsp. medium hot mustard
- 2 apples, peeled and diced. If there is no apple syrup, add 4.
- Salt, pepper, fresh parsley
2. Pour in beer so that it covers the meat. Boil. Add carrots, bay leaf, thyme, honey, broth. Bring to a boil again.
3. Reduce heat to low. Add apples. Check the broth for salt and pepper. Please note that all these one and a half liters of liquid should boil down greatly, so do not overdo it with salt.
4. Spread the pieces of bread with mustard on both sides and carefully place them on the meat.
5. Cover with a lid and simmer over very low heat for 2.5-3 hours, until all the liquid has evaporated to a thick gravy.
6. Stir and crush the boiled pieces of apples and bread.
7. You can serve it in different ways. A classic side dish is fried potatoes. You can also use puree (with variations - with the addition of celery, pumpkin or cauliflower). You can also use warmed green peas. If you want something lighter - chicory.
8. Dry red wine goes very well with this meat.
Preparation:
1. Cut the bacon into small pieces. Peel the onion and cut into thin rings. Peel and chop the garlic. Fry the flour in "Frying" 10 minutes, then add beer and water and stir well.
2. Then add beef, bacon, onion and garlic. Add bay leaf, salt, pepper, sugar and thyme. Select mode "Quenching" and cook for 120 minutes.
3. You can serve fried potatoes and green peas as a side dish.
PMC-0517AD
Preparation:
1. Prepare a slow cooker and ingredients.
2. Cut the bacon into small pieces. Peel the onion and cut into thin rings. Peel and chop the garlic. Fry the flour in "Frying" 10 minutes, then add beer and water and stir well.
3. Then add beef, bacon, onion and garlic. Add bay leaf, salt, pepper, sugar and thyme. Select mode "Quenching" for 120 min. You can serve fried potatoes and green peas as a side dish.
PMC-0511AD, PMC-0513ADG, PMC-0533AD, PMC-0541D, PMC-0542AD
Preparation:
Prepare the slow cooker and ingredients.
Cut the bacon into small pieces. Peel the onion and cut into thin rings. Peel and chop the garlic. Set mode "Frying", time 10 minutes.
When the bowl is hot, add flour and fry for 10 minutes, then add beer and water and stir well.
Place beef, bacon, onion and garlic into a multicooker bowl. Add bay leaf, salt, pepper, sugar and thyme. Select mode "Quenching" for 2 hours 20 minutes. You can serve fried potatoes and green peas as a side dish.
Today we bring to your attention a unique recipe for cooking meat in beer. This is a dish for real gourmets.
For some reason, few people are familiar with Belgian cuisine. Meanwhile, she deserves our attention! Belgians love to eat, and their portions are large.
There is an abundance of vegetable dishes, very different - vegetables in this country are respected by everyone, young and old. Some dishes have something in common with French, German, Dutch - what can you do, neighbors...
A lot of delicious things are prepared according to recipes that have hardly changed since the Middle Ages - traditions are respected in Belgium. One of these gastronomic traditions is stewing or baking meat in beer.
“Flemish Carbonade” or “Flemish beef” is known and loved by gourmets all over the world. Let's cook too! Not exactly like in Belgium, probably, but “based on it.” There are a minimum of ingredients and labor costs, and the dinner is incomparable; men will certainly appreciate it!
Cooking time: 2 hours 45 minutes.
Ingredients
1.5 kg beef pulp
250 g bacon
1 liter dark beer
4 onions
2 cloves garlic
3 tbsp. l. flour
2 tbsp. l. Sahara
1 tbsp. l. vinegar
1 bay leaf
0.5 tsp. dry thyme
A handful of parsley
salt, ground black pepper
Beef in Flemish beer: recipe
1) Cut the bacon into thin slices and fry in a dry frying pan until crispy, 7 minutes. Transfer to paper towel.
2) Drain the bacon fat into a separate container, leaving 2 tbsp in the pan. l. Peel the onion and garlic. Cut the onion into thin rings, chop the garlic. Fry vegetables in bacon fat for 5 minutes.
H) Wash and dry the meat. Heat bacon grease in a wide ovenproof saucepan. Add beef and fry on all sides until browned, 15 minutes.
4) Add 1 cup of water, bay leaf, salt, pepper, sugar and thyme. Add onion and garlic and pour in beer. Bring to a boil, cover with a lid and simmer over low heat for 2 hours.
5) Separately, fry the flour in a dry frying pan over low heat until golden brown, 2-3 minutes. Add to the pan with meat, mix thoroughly so that there are no lumps. Cook for 10 minutes.
6) Pour in vinegar, add parsley, stir again and remove from heat. Before serving, cut the meat into thin slices. Add the reserved bacon slices to the sauce and serve along with the meat.
Beef in beer is ready.
Bon appetit!
Video materials on the topic of the article
This is how to properly cook meat in Flemish:
Another version of this dish:
Beef in a slow cooker:
Can you name any Belgian dish without hesitation? I have only two associations: Belgian chocolate and Belgian beer - “Stella Artois” and “Hoegaarden”.
For some reason, few people are familiar with Belgian cuisine. Meanwhile, she deserves our attention! Belgians love to eat, and their portions are large. An abundance of vegetable dishes, very different - vegetables in this country are respected by everyone, young and old. Some dishes have something in common with French, German, Dutch - what can you do, neighbors... . Many delicious things are prepared according to recipes that have hardly changed since the Middle Ages - traditions are respected in Belgium. One of these gastronomic traditions is stewing or baking meat in beer. “Flemish Carbonade” or “Flemish beef” is known and loved by gourmets all over the world.
Let's cook too! Not exactly like in Belgium, probably, but “based on it.” The dish turns out to be rather not refined, but rather... specific. Men usually like it. Interesting taste! The smell of beer is muffled during cooking, mixed with the aromas of meat and bread, and a wonderful thick sauce is obtained. Along with meat, which is very convenient.
About Belgian beer
. Today, the relatively small country of Belgium produces a little less than a thousand types of beer.
. Each Belgian produces about 180 liters of beer per year.
. Beer-based sauces, beer soups, beer marinades for meat, and fish gravies (also with beer) are popular.
. Original varieties - with orange, strawberry, cherry juice, black currant, raspberry.
. The first beer began to be brewed by Belgian monks at the beginning of the 13th century. In those days, it was safer to drink beer than water - due to constant plague epidemics.
Experts say that Belgian beer can be substituted for French wines. I would like to quote an article from gastromag.ru, I found it interesting.
“... Try serving Hoegaarden White wheat varieties - with coriander and orange peel or Blanch de Namur instead of white wine, such as Chablis. They can be both an aperitif and an excellent addition to fish, white meat, even fruit. Wheat beer should be served chilled - up to +3ºC.
Light Leffe (Blonde) is an optimal replacement for dry Bordeaux, Chianti, ideal for smoked meats. Dark Leffe (Brune), experts say, can be used instead of aged Burgundy - pinot noir. It goes perfectly with French and, of course, Belgian cuisine. And Belle-Vue, which is well represented on our market - both creek (with cherries) and framboise (with raspberries), as well as the product of the famous Belgian brewery Liefmans - cherry beer - are good to offer as an aperitif or just to quench your thirst.”
Flemish meat
Easy to prepare - a famous Belgian dish! Meat in beer sauce
You will need:
Pork or beef, suitable for stewing/baking - 1 kg;
Onion - 2 pcs.;
Beer is dark, weak, sweetish - 0.5 liters;
Black bread - 2-3 slices;
Mustard - 1-2 tbsp. l.;
Salt, ground black pepper, thyme, optional - 1 small bay leaf;
Notes:
Optional ingredients: smoked brisket approx. 150 gr., meat broth, garlic (creeper) Lovers of the aroma of smoked meats and/or garlic - this is for you.
The brisket needs to be finely chopped, fried until golden brown, and added to the meat in a roasting pan, add garlic, mashed with salt. The broth can be added as the beer boils away. You can, of course, add beer - then there will be a very intense taste.
I cooked pork, the cooking time will be longer for beef!
The end result greatly depends on beer, bread and mustard! It's better to take weak beer. Dark beer - the taste and aroma of the dish will be more intense, light beer - muted. The same applies to bread - sour rye will make the taste of the sauce brighter, white bread will make it softer. Take any mustard to suit your taste. Keep in mind that the spice will decrease during cooking.
1. Cut the meat into small pieces, across the grain. (If necessary, first cut off the films and veins from it). Dry the pieces with napkins or kitchen towels - we will fry them. Dried meat splatters less and quickly becomes covered with a fried crust; accordingly, more juice remains inside the pieces. Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan and put a piece of butter - heat the oil thoroughly, then the crust will immediately “set” on the meat. Add the meat in small portions and fry until browned.
2. Peel and finely chop two medium-sized onions. Cut the bread into slices about a centimeter thick, cut off the crusts. Spread the slices generously with mustard. I used a grainy one, and I could see the mustard seeds in the finished sauce.
3. This meat can be baked in the oven, or it can be cooked on the stove - if desired. In a roasting pan (sauce pan, thick-bottomed saucepan, cauldron, duck pot, baking dish if you are making it in the oven) place the meat, onions and meat, add salt and pepper on top, add a little thyme or cumin.
Place bread on top, mustard side down. Fill it all with beer and set it to simmer and simmer under a lid over low heat, for about 40 minutes for pork, for beef it will take more time... mmm... until it becomes soft.
If you bake, the oven temperature is 180 degrees, cover the pan with a lid or wrap tightly with foil!!!
4. After about half an hour, you can look into the saucepan; if the liquid has evaporated too much, add more broth (or water, or beer)
Try the meat - if it is almost ready, then you can stir the contents of the pan, the bread will break up into crumbs and combine with the beer broth - this is how it should be, you will get a wonderful beer bread sauce. In about ten minutes our meat is ready.
(From my experience... you need to mix the bread with the meat shortly before the end of cooking - about 10 minutes before the meat is ready. Otherwise, the sauce may burn, especially if cooked on the stove. Therefore, keep an eye on it at the very end of cooking - it’s better to be on the safe side)
5. As a side dish, boiled potatoes are traditionally offered, cut into wedges and flavored with butter and dill. Well, and a bottle... Hoegaarden, maybe...
