Flemish-style beef stew with beer

Working in Brussels for so long, I though it was about time I tried cooking a bit of the local cuisine. And what better place to start than with Flemish-style beef stew with beer.

A visit to Amazon and a copy of The Food and Cooking of Belgium by Suzanne Vandyck later and it was off to the kitchen, bottles of Belgian Brown Beer in hand.

Ingredients

• 500g / 1/4 lb of Braising Steak cubed
  
• Plain Flour
• Butter
• Olive Oil
• 1 Large Onion Diced
  
• 2 Garlic Cloves pealed and chopped. Whack them with the flat of your hand or a knife blade (careful) prior to pealing.
  
• 1 or 2 330 ml/11 1/2 fl oz bottles of Dark Belgian Beer such as Chimay (I used Chimay Bruin), plus a few more bottles for drinking.
  
• A bouquet garni lashed together of 3 sprigs of thyme, 6 of parsley and 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 tbsp Brown Sugar
• 2 or 3 slices of rustic bread
• 2 tbsp (ish) of Dijon Mustard
• A fistful of fresh parsley chopped
• Salt and Freshly Ground black pepper

Preparation

• First add a couple of pinches of salt (if possible Maldon Sea Salt) and 6 or so turns of a pepper mill to a food bag containing a couple of tablespoons of flour.

• Add the meat in batches to the flour, shaking the bag, in a closed state to coat. Shake off any excess flour and put to one side. If you run out of seasoned flour before the end, hey it's not the end of the world as we know it, add some more.
  

• Heat a good knob of butter and add a tbsp or two of olive oil to a large flame proof caserole dish, preferably cast iron, over a medium to high heat.
  

• When sizzling add the meat and brown in batches. As with the flour, add a tad more oil if it runs out. Put the browned meat to one side on a plate.
  

• Add the onion and cook on a low heat for about 6 to 8 minutes till soft, then add the garlic and give it another 3 minutes. In this time stir, shake and otherwise agitate your veggies to stop them burning.

• Return your browned meat to the pan and combine with the onions.

• Add enough beer to just cover the meat. If like me you used one and a half bottles, hurrah, celebrate by drinking the remainder.

• Bring the mixture to just below boiling point, then add the herbs vinegar and sugar. The sourness of the vinegar should be offset by the sweetness of the sugar. Have a taste, as with Thai cooking, if too sour add more sugar, if too sweet, add more vinegar. If just right, fantastic!

• Cover and cook over the lowest heat your hob can muster, stirring every now and then. If your herbs went in loose, try to keep the together, it makes removal easier.
  

• After an hour and a half, or when the meat is tender, remove the herbs (hey I did warn you).
  

• Slice your bread, if unsliced, carving off enough to cover the surface of your stew in a single layer. Spread with a generous amount of the Dijon mustard and lay mustard side down on the surface of the stew. Spoon over some of the liquid, cover the pot and leave to cook for a further 20-30 minutes.

• The bread should by now have absorbed some of the juices and dissolved to thicken the stew. If needs be help the dissolving along with the aid of a spatula.

• Taste and if needs be add some more salt and pepper to taste.

• Serve with fries, mashed potato or breads, sprinkling the chopped parsley over the stew for garnish.

• For drinks to serve with it, I'd reccomend more of the beer you used in it's cooking.
  

• If you've got them, also serve with Belgian pickles, or a suitably rustic local equivalent.
  

This stew was wonderful and thoroughly recommended. If you do it some time, make the effort to get a good quality Belgium Brown beer to use in it. It makes all the difference. It also warrants a damn fine piece of braising steak, in my case I paid a visit to Edinburgh farmers market to get some quality coo.

I'd also strongly recommend that you get yourself a copy of The Food and Cooking of Belgium. This is a marvelous cookery book, doing full justice to what has to be one of the most underrated cuisines on Earth. Beautifully illustrated it delves into the history, culture and traditions of Belgian food, before launching into 60 mouth watering recipes. The author, Suzanne Vandyck, was born in Belgium and runs a cookery school, Worldchefs, specialising in world cooking. Check out their website at www.worldchefs.net, there a few recipes there for you to try (after giving the beef stew a go that is).

Stay tuned for my next foray into the wonderful world of Belgian cooking. Coming to a table near me soon.

Eet Smakelijk!

Japanese Style Curry

It is said that the Japanese love curry and from my experiences of the Toyota canteen in Brussels I wouldn't argue with that. Coincidentally I also love curry. Result.

The following recipe is from Madhur Jaffrey's Ultimate Curry Bible. It follows two of my favorite philosophies in cooking, one, it's easy to do and two it's extremely tasty.

I think I'm turning Japanese.

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Ingredients

Marinade for the Beef

• 450g / 1lb of beef (use a good quality cut like fillet if you can, this recipes is good enough to deserve it!) cut at a slight angle into 1/4 inch (3 mm) slices
• 5 tbsp tamari - tamari is a brand of Japanese Soy Sauce and has a very distinctive mild taste. Although you can substitute a light soy here, I'd recommend you get hold of the real deal as it does make a big difference to the taste. If you're in London this can be bought from the Japan Centre at Picadily Circus (this also has a useful on-line shop), if not check out your local Asian shops.
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tbsp hot curry powder
• 2 tsp cornflour
• 1 tsp con, peanut or olive oil
• 2 peeled, crushed garlic cloves
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated, or, as I prefer, hacked to bits with my trusty cleaver
• 1 large Onion, peeled and finely chopped
  
• 3-4 Carrots peeled and cut into 3 cm pieces
  

Sauce

• 2 tsp cornflour
• 6 fl oz (175 ml( beef stock) I cheat and use the bottled liquid stock that's readily available these days.
• 2 tsp tamari
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp sake
• 4 tbsp whipping cream

For final Cooking
3 tbsp corn, peanut or olive oil
1 medium Onion cut into thin half rings
2 medium carrots roll cut into 3 mm (1/4 inch) slices

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Taking Care Of Business

• Start by marinading the beef. In a bowl mix all the marinade ingredients and add the beef mixing well. Leave to marinade in the fridge for up to 2 hrs.

• Mix the sauce ingredients and set aside. I tend to leave out the cream and add this in at the last minute of cooking. Then set aside.
  

• When the beef has marinated heat the oil over a medium heat in a large non-stick pan

• Stir fry the Onions and Carrots for around 4 minutes until the Onions are slightly translucent.

• Add the beef with its marinade and fry, stirring all the time, for a minute.
  

• Lower the temperature to medium, cover and cook for a further 5 minutes. Lif the lid and stir periodically in this time.

• Take the pan off the heat and pour in the sauce.

• Stir and cook on a medium low heat for another minute. This will heat the sauce and thicken it a bit, courtesy of the cornflour.
  

• If you've not included the cream in your sauce, add it now. The last time I did this I forgot to add the cream and it still tasted exceptional. Good news if you're on a diet other than see food.

• Stir once more and serve immediately. The Japanese would serve this with rice and Japanese pickles called fukujinzuke (sounds like a word that Ricky Gervais would use in When the Whistle Blows), I found it also works pretty well with some Jalapeños on the side.

Enjoy !!!

Blogged with Flock

Beef In Oyster Sauce

There's a school of thought that at its peak Chinese cookery is the best cuisine on the planet. There's also a theory that the best Chinese chefs work out of Hong Kong. In the book Chinese Cookery Masterclass, Willy Mark got the greatest masters for each region of Chinese cooking to part with their secrets and some of their best recipes.

This recipe for Beef with Oyster Sauce, hails from the Southern school (Cantonese) of Chinese cooking. As Beef in Oyster Sauce is my wifes favorite Chinese meal, and this is arguably the best recipe for it in the world, it's guaranteed to get a result with her.

Ingredients

11 oz Beef Steak (300g)
1 oz (25g) Root Ginger
3 oz (75g) white part of spring onion
450 ml (16 floz / 2 cups) peanut oil for frying the beef
1 tbsp chopped garlic
2 tsp Rice Wine

Marinade
1 1/2 tsp ginger juice (the first time I prepared this dish I squeezed the juice from a piece of ginger by hand. A process taking considerable time and effort. An easier alternative is to peel and dice some ginger, then press the result using a garlic press.)
1 1/2 tsp Rice Wine
2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 egg white
1/2 tsp meat tenderizer (optional)
1 tbsp peanut (groundnut) oil
1 tbsp cornflour

Sauce
1 1/2 tbsp good quality oyster sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
3 tbsp stock or water
1 tsp cornflour

Preparation
Cut the beef into thin slices across the grain. Peel and slice the ginger and cut the white of the spring onions into 2 inch (4-5 cm) pieces. Mix the marinade ingredients, add the beef, cover and marinate for 1 hour in the fridge.

Heat a wok over a high heat and add the oil. Reduce to a low heat when the oil is hot. Cook the beef in the oil for 30 seconds before removing with a perforated spoon and alowing it to drain. This technique is called running through the oil (or velveting) and seals the meat trapping any flavors inside. It also imparts it with a velvety texture.

Remove the oil then heat the pan a second time over a high heat adding 2 tbsp oil. Fry the garlic, ginger and spring onion for 15 seconds then add the beef and add the rice wine, splashing it round the outside till the sizzling stops.

Mix the sauce ingredients and add to the pan stif frying over a high heat for about 30 seconds.

Serve hot and fresh from the pan.

I just cooked this recipe using some Puddledub Aberdeen Angus fillet steak and it was totally awesome. It definitely makes my top ten dishes of all time.

Roasting Meat

Last Sunday we had an awesome shoulder joint of Puddledub's Organic Pork (probably the finest pork in the world) and I need to yet again delve into my dog eared copy of Delia's "How To Cook Book Two" for the timings. To save time in the future and give me access to them on the road I've decided to blog them.

Beef

Pre-heat the oven to 230 C (gas mark 8, 450F)

Season beef, preferably sirloin or Wing Rib with salt and pepper with a dusting of flour and dry mustard

Roast for 20 minutes then drop the temperature to 190C (gas mark 5, 375F)

Continue to Roast at this temperature for 15 minutes a pound (450g) for rare, add 15 minutes for medium and another 30 for well done. Baste at least 3 times during this period.

Rest 20-30 minutes before carving (the meat not you, you should already have been sitting back with a glass of wine in your hand during the cooking time).

Pork (with crackling)

Pre-heat the oven to 230 C (gas mark 8, 450F)

Making sure the surface skin is dry rub with sea salt (preferably Maldon) and Roast for 25 minutes then drop the temperature to 190C (gas mark 5, 375F)

Roast at the lower temperature allowing 35 minutes a pound (450g). Don't baste or you won't have crisp crackling.

Rest 20-30 minutes before carving.

Lamb

Pre-heat the oven to 190C (gas mark 5, 375F)

After seasoning the meat with salt and pepper sit in a roasting dish on a bed of sliced onion and roast for 30 minutes a pound (450g) basting about 3 times during cooking.

Rest for at least 30 minutes.

Shrewsbury Sauce to accompany the lamb

2 tbsp plain flour
1 heaped tsp mustard powder
1 pint (570 ml) Beaujolais or other light wine
5 rounded tbsp quality redcurrant jelly
3tbsp Worcester Sauce
Juice of a lemon
Salt and freshly milled black pepper

Take 2 tbsp of the fat from your cooked joint and heat in a pan on low stirring in the flour and mustard powder.

Gradually add the wine to the resulting paste, a splosh at a time, stirring initially with a wooden spoon then switching top a whisk half way through.

Add the redcurrant jelly, lemon juice and seasoning whisking again until the Jelly has been dissolved. With the heat as low as it will go, and preferably with a heat diffuser sitting under the pan, let the sauce reduce for about 15 minutes. Your sauce can then be poured over your cooked lamb. Yum.

See also the post on Roast Chicken.