Belgian Carbonnade (Beef and Onions Stewed in Beer)
I forgot to take a picture of the final, plated product, but
Belgian Carbonnade
(Modified from Mark Bittman's The Best Recipes in the World, which is in my opinion the best cookbook of all time - go out and buy it!)
Ingredients:
3-4 medium onions
3 Tbsp. oil
2 lbs. stew beef
about 12 oz. dark, bitter beer (such as Guinness)
3 medium garlic cloves
1/2 tsp dried oregano (or 1 tsp fresh)
1/2 tsp dried thyme (or 1 tsp fresh)
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard or to taste
1) Slice onions and throw in a big stew pot, sans oil. Saute over medium heat for 15 minutes.
2) Add 2 Tbsp oil, and saute for another 15 minutes or until the onions are a dark brown mass. Remove from pot.
3) Add another Tbsp of oil and stew beef.
4) Brown all over and season to taste with salt and pepper.
5) Add freshly chopped garlic and saute for 30 seconds.
6) Return onions to pot and add spices (hopefully, you are able to afford better quality spices than those shown here!).
7) Add your dark bitter beer. (Sorry so blurry. That's the cookbook in the background - huge, and <$30!)
8) Allow to simmer for about 1 hour, until meat is tender and the dish is of a stewy consistency. If it gets too dry, add more beer. If it's too wet, turn up the heat and allow more liquid to boil off. (The latter will probably be more likely).
9) Final step: Add 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard or to taste (I added almsost 2).
Serve over hot buttered egg noodles or mashed potatoes. (I went with noodles and also made Sauteed Garlic Spinach, from the site www.epicurious.com. Next time I think I'll do mashed potatoes, though, because they would no doubt better absorb the liquidy goodness).
Happy eating!
***Edit: Thanks for your help on how to resize photos, I finally figured it out!
Belgian Carbonnade
(Modified from Mark Bittman's The Best Recipes in the World, which is in my opinion the best cookbook of all time - go out and buy it!)
Ingredients:
3-4 medium onions
3 Tbsp. oil
2 lbs. stew beef
about 12 oz. dark, bitter beer (such as Guinness)
3 medium garlic cloves
1/2 tsp dried oregano (or 1 tsp fresh)
1/2 tsp dried thyme (or 1 tsp fresh)
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard or to taste
1) Slice onions and throw in a big stew pot, sans oil. Saute over medium heat for 15 minutes.
2) Add 2 Tbsp oil, and saute for another 15 minutes or until the onions are a dark brown mass. Remove from pot.
3) Add another Tbsp of oil and stew beef.
4) Brown all over and season to taste with salt and pepper.
5) Add freshly chopped garlic and saute for 30 seconds.
6) Return onions to pot and add spices (hopefully, you are able to afford better quality spices than those shown here!).
7) Add your dark bitter beer. (Sorry so blurry. That's the cookbook in the background - huge, and <$30!)
8) Allow to simmer for about 1 hour, until meat is tender and the dish is of a stewy consistency. If it gets too dry, add more beer. If it's too wet, turn up the heat and allow more liquid to boil off. (The latter will probably be more likely).
9) Final step: Add 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard or to taste (I added almsost 2).
Serve over hot buttered egg noodles or mashed potatoes. (I went with noodles and also made Sauteed Garlic Spinach, from the site www.epicurious.com. Next time I think I'll do mashed potatoes, though, because they would no doubt better absorb the liquidy goodness).
Happy eating!
***Edit: Thanks for your help on how to resize photos, I finally figured it out!