Flemish Stew

In Belgian weddings it’s customary to give the guests a small thank you gift when they leave the wedding, we opted for little bags of mixed herbs for a very classic Flemish dish called “Stoverij” (in English Flemish Stew”, also be known as “Carbonade Flamande” in French).

Ingredients

• Herbs
  • Mace (Folie) or nutmeg
  • 1-2 Clove (Kruidnagel)
  • Laural (Laurier)
  • Thyme (Tijm)
• 1 large onion
• 2-3 cloves of garlic (optional)
• Parsely
• 500 grams (about 1.10 lbs) of cut flank steaks (stoofvlees)
• Pepper
• Salt
• Butter
• A good strong (Belgian) beer/ ale¹
• 1-2 piece(s) of brown bread
• Strong mustard (no sweet mustard!)
• Sirop de Liège/ brown sugar (optional sweetener)
• Vinegar
• Patience

All ingredients laid out together should look like this

Recipe

1. Heat a large skillet on high and melt the butter in it
   
2. Salt and pepper the flank steak pieces
   
3. Place the pieces of flank steak in the skillet and cook till caramelized²
   
4. Heat your favorite cast iron pot on medium and melt the butter in it
5. Mince the onions and garlic
   
6. And add these to the pot and glaze them
   
7. Then add the now caramelized flank steak pieces to the pot and lower the heat
   
8. Add your selected beer/ale to the the skillet and let it cook-in soaking up the flavors from the meat³
   
9. Once the beer is cooking add it to the pot
   
10. Add the herbs and stir
    
11. Take the slice(s) of brown bread and cover one side royally with strong mustard and then place it on top of the stew
    
    • Optionally you can also add some Sirop de Liège/ brown sugar to sweeten the stew
12. Let it stew for a few hours on a low temperature and check regularly to stir
    
13. Right before serving at minced parsley and some dashes of vinegar and stir a final time⁴
    
14. Serve with fries and a fresh salad of choice, wash down with a good Belgian beer and above all enjoy!
    

What’s up with the gorilla hand?

The gorilla hand is an inspiration from Monty Python and the Holy Grail!

Footnotes

1. My wife was pregnant at the time of cooking, so we’ve used Grimbergen 0.0% as an alternative. I would suggest using a high alcohol level brown beer like Sint-Bernadus 12, Gordon Highland Scotch Ale, Le Fort Triple, … ↩︎
2. Make sure to put ample space between the pieces otherwise you’ll be boiling the meat instead of cooking it. ↩︎
3. Never add cold beer to your dish, always cook it first! ↩︎
4. Serving tip: You can add the minced parsley once it’s put on the plate as a finish ↩︎