Stoofvlees (Carbonades a la Flamande)
Thursday, February 2nd 2006.I made this typical Belgian stew last saturday for some friends, pretty much from memory. For this dish, the beef is slowly simmered in a tasty dark Belgian beer. I particularily liked how it turned out this time, that’s why I’ll write out the recipe here today, for my own records, but also for anyone who wants to reproduce it. Try it, it’s really easy, hearty, and perfect for those cold winter nights. And a great crowd-pleaser!
Stoofvlees aka Carbonades a la Flamande (serves 8 )
Ingredients
- 4 lbs of cubed beef meat, about 1-1.5 inch wide _(I used sirloin, but substitute with other cuts such as chuck/round)
- 3-4 large sweet onions, chopped
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 25oz (75cl) of dark Belgian beer (traditionally Rodenbach or Geuze, but I used Maredsous 8 due to the lack of the first over here in Chapel Hill)
- 6 cloves
- 3 bay leaves (cracked)
- a few sprigs of fresh thyme
- 4 thick slices of pain d’epices or bread, crusts removed, and generously covered with the best mustard in your cupboard
- 2 tbsp of brown sugar
- pepper,salt
Preparation
- Heat olive oil and butter in a dutch oven or thick-bottomed pot, until almost smoking. Sear the beef cubes, until they are well browned on all sides; you’ll have to work in batches, don’t overcrowd the pot. Remove the meat, set aside.
- Add the onions to the pot, slowly cook them in the remaining butter and meat juices, until almost caramelized. It’ll take about 15 minutes.
- Add the meat to the onions again, pour the beer over the meat. Add water if not all the meat is covered with liquid. Add the herbs to the pot, and place the mustard-smeared slices of bread on top, mustard side up.
- Cover the pot and simmer for a few hours. Basically, longer is better. The exact amount of time will depend on the cut of beef you are using, but the meat should be very * tender, it should fall apart when you poke it.
- About 40 minutes before serving, add the brown sugar, stir the almost disolved bread into the stew. Cook for another 40 minutes, uncovered, such that the liquids evaporate. This dish should not be a watery soup, it should have a pretty thick consistency. That’s what the bread is for. If it’s still quite liquid, you can bind it with some maizena, corn starch, flower, or whatever you feel like.
Serve with lettuce, true Belgian fries and some mayo. Indulge yourself 
I just returned from New York City where I had Carbonades a la Famande at a Belgium restaurant (MARKT OLM, near Midtown5th avenue for the first time). It was incredible and I was delighted to find your recipe. I’ll try it soon, here in Denver Colorado, USA and let you know how it went.
Thank you.
Steven, I’m glad you like the recipe! Let me know how it goes. I’ve noticed many people are finding this recipe via google, I may have to fine-tune it to accommodate local ingredients…
I’m flemisch and I often prepare a variation of he traditional recipe that is also fingerlicking good.
So all you have to do is replace the beer, the cloves, the bread and the sugar with 2 slices of gingerbread and about 4 tablespoons of tomato ketchup.
The reason that Rodenbach or Geuze are often used is because those bears have a high acidity level. Therefore you should add a bit of vinaigre to the recipe because the acidity will reduce the cooking time.
Hey Davy, that’s a great tip that I will take into account next time I don’t have Rodenbach or Geuze available (and that’s pretty often the case where I live in the US).
Here in south africa, we don’t have our beloved belgian beer, but a good dark stout also does the job! Instead of the cloves, I use a few drops of Worchester Sauce. That contains both cloves and vinegar…