Stoofvlees recipe - Brussels version, Flemish Beef and Beer Stew - cooked in a slow cooker
Best served with twice cooked chips and a great mayo (with mustard mixed in) Stoofvlees is beef casserole heaven, fortified with a flavoursome dark Belgian beer like Chimay or in our case Pannerpot this dish is oh so good and the recipe has a very unusual way of thickening the gravy...
I make Flemish Carbonnade often, see my other recipe here serving it with mustard toast, it's a very good recipe, try it, you'll like it. So thinking I'd make it again I re-watched a video by French Cooking Academy on YouTube which is the recipe I had always previously followed came from, then I read the comments below their post and many viewers disagreed with how they made their great Carbonnade..
Thus this recipe for Stoofvlees becomes more authentic, well maybe just in Brussels...
Several onions
Diced beef 1lb
1 Tblsp brown sugar
1 Tblsp red wine vinegar
1 Tblsp Dijon mustard
2 slices of ginger bread
A few dried prunes
A bottle of Flemish dark beer
Thyme
A Bay leaf studded with two cloves
Seasoning
Method:-
In the metal part of the slow cooker I fry the finely sliced onions in a little butter and oil till very caramalised, then add the beef and brown slightly, then add the vinegar, beer, sugar and prunes and herbs. The Flemish recipe calls for an apple or pear syrup but prunes will also work, someone had commented that her mother does this in Brussels, I read. And if it's good enough for her mum well.
Returning slice two pieces of ginger bread spread with mustard and put them on the stew mustard side down, allow to continue to cook on a low heat until the gingerbread melts into the gravy, some people also use bread spread with mustard. Either way whilst it dissolves you make your frites, oh and mayo dip. The prunes seemed to disappear in the cooking process.
This technique of thickening the gravy with ginger bread really works - this is an amazing stew.