Stoofvlees Met Frieten

(Les Carbonades Flamandes or Flemish Beef and Beer Stew with Fries)

This is one of my all-time favorite recipes.

Implements

• Knife
• Large pan
• Dutch oven
• Bottle opener

Ingredients

• 4 pounds boneless beef, such as chuck, cut into 1″ or 2″ cubes
• Salt and pepper
• 2 or 3 TB all-purpose flour
• 4 TB (half stick) butter
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 1 large (or 2 regular) Belgian beer
• 2 or 3 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1.5 TB red currant jelly, or brown sugar
• 1 TB cider vinegar or red-wine vinegar
• 2 slices of brown bread
• Mustard

Instructions

Season beef cubes with salt and pepper and dredge in flour.

Melt butter in heavy skillet or Dutch oven over high heat but not smoking. Sauté beef until nicely browned. (Work in batches if you need to, so you don’t overcrowd the pot.)

Melt butter in a pan over medium heat and fry onions until browned, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Deglaze the pan with some of the beer, and combine the onions and beer with the meat in the Dutch oven. Add the remaining beer, the thyme, and the bay leaves to the Dutch oven. Butter two slices of brown bread with mustard (I butter one with brown mustard, and the other with yellow, to get a rich, complex flavor) and stick the pieces mustard-side down on top of the stew.

Simmer, covered, over low heat until the meat is very tender and falls apart, about 2 hours. When it’s almost done, stir in the red currant jelly (or brown sugar) and vinegar.

I serve these with authentic Belgian frieten (French: frites), which are twice-fried fries.

I also like to serve these with the Cucumber Salad below.

Cucumber Salad with Chives

For this recipe, you need a sharp knife and a serving vessel.

• 1 English cucumber, peeled and sliced thinly
• 1/2 medium red onion, sliced paper-thin
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 TB sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• Pepper to taste
• A small handful of chives

Combine all ingredients about 2 hours ahead of time, to allow the flavors to meld.

Frieten (Belgian Fries)

For this recipe, you need a deep pan, or deep fryer with basket, two baking sheets, paper towels, a large bowl, and a serving vessel (unless you’re portioning out directly onto plates).

• 2.5 lbs Bintje (or Russet) potatoes
• 1 or 2 gallons (approx) peanut oil for deep frying
• Salt

Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with paper towels and setting them aside.

Peel potatoes, cut them into uniform fries/sticks, and place them into a large bowl of cold water to remove some of the starch and to keep them from turning brown.

Add oil to deep-fryer or deep pan. Heat oil to 160C/325F.

While the oil is heating up, drain the potatoes from the water and pat dry with paper towels, or a clean cloth. Add the potatoes to the fry basket and lower into the oil (in batches, if necessary), and fry for about 5 or 6 minutes or until its cooked through but not yet golden. Lift them out of the oil and shake off excess oil, then spread them out on the first cookie sheet lined with paper towels to catch the oil drippings. Let cool slightly.

Heat oil a bit higher at 180C/350F. Return the par-cooked fries to the fryer (again, in batches, if needed) and fry for another 4 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from fryer, shake off excess oil, and then place on the second baking sheet lined with paper towels. Salt and serve.