Stoofvlees (Carbonade Flamande)

This slow cooked stew is a Flemish dish from Belgium, & is said to originate from the middle ages. The word carbonade comes from the French word 'charbon', meaning coal or charcoal. It was given this name as they would place this stew on hot coals in the corner of the fireplace and allow it to simmer very gently for several hours to tenderise the meat. I personally love to enjoy this stew with chips (that's fries for some of you) & a side vegetable.

6 Servings

Ingredients;

1.2kg stewing beef, cut into bitesize cubes

2 onions, finely chopped

80gr butter

4 tbsp flour

3 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tsp vergeoise sugar (soft dark brown sugar)

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

4 cloves

75cl Belgian brown beer

4 slices of pain d'epice (a dark rye spiced bread), turned into crumbs in a chopper

1 slice of white bread smeared with mustard

3 sprigs of fresh thyme

S&P

Instructions:

Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the beef in small batches in order to brown well on all sides. Once the meat has been browned, set aside on a plate.

Add the onions to the pot & simmer for 10 minutes on a medium-low heat.

Sprinkle the flour over, mix well & then add the vinegar, sugar, mustard, cloves & beer.

Mix well before adding the pain d'epice crumbs.

Stir & bring to a gentle simmer.

Place the slice of mustard smeared bread on the top of the stew.

Cover with a lid, reduce to low heat & allow to cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

When you are ready to serve, bring the stew to a boil on medium high heat for a couple of minutes, to thicken the sauce, & mix the now softened mustard bread into the sauce. The bread should disintegrate and thicken the sauce.

Sprinkle fresh thyme over the top before serving.