Carbonnade flamande recipe

Beef and onions braised in brown Belgian ale, thickened not by flour alone but by slices of gingerbread spread with mustard that melt into the sauce.

3 hours and 10 minutesmedium12 ingredients

Ingredients

• 1000 g beef chuck
• 750 ml belgian brown ale
• 4 onions
• 4 slice gingerbread
• 2 tbsp mustard
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 40 g butter
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

How to make Carbonnade flamande

1. Cut 1 kg of beef chuck into large 4 cm cubes, pat them dry and season with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of black pepper.
2. Brown the meat hard in 40 g of butter in batches, about 4 minutes a batch, then set it aside.
3. Slice 4 onions and sweat them in the same pot for 15 minutes until deep golden; they are the only vegetable in the dish.
4. Dust with 1 tablespoon of flour, stir a minute, then return the beef and pour in 750 ml of brown Belgian ale, with no stock and no water.
5. Add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 2 bay leaves and 1 teaspoon of thyme, and bring to a bare simmer.
6. Spread 4 slices of gingerbread with 2 tablespoons of mustard and lay them mustard side down on the meat.
7. Cover and simmer very gently for 2 hours 30, without stirring much, until the gingerbread has dissolved and the sauce is dark and glossy.
8. Taste at the end and balance with a little more sugar if the beer was bitter.
9. Serve with fries or boiled potatoes; it is better made the day before and reheated.

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