Calvert Woodley Catalog 2025 - Flipbook - Page 38
Cooking with the Beermudgeon
Carbonnade a la flamande, aka Stoofvlees
(Flemish-style Beef & Beer Stew)
By Jon Brandt, CW Beermudgeon
W
hen I went to cooking school at L’Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg in 2007, one of the
things I hoped to learn about was cooking with beer.
One of the first recipes I learned under the tutelage of my instructor, Chef Gerard Pangaud, was
the classic French stew, Boeuf Bourguignonne, a beef stew made with red wine. But we did not
cook with beer at all, due, in part, probably because beer really isn’t part of the French culinary
scene. Maybe I would have had better luck if I had gone to a school featuring Belgian cuisine.
In the Belgian region of Flanders, cooking with beer is a way of life. One of their most famous
dishes is “Carbonnade a la flamande” (“Flemish-style beef stew” in French) also known as
“Stoofvlees,” which is Dutch for “boiled beef stew.”
In researching this article and looking for just
the right recipe, I found far too many that simply
called for “beer” in the ingredient list, while others
called for “dark beer.” Those are the recipes I
discarded immediately, because if they didn’t care
what kind of beer they would use, I didn’t care to
taste their final product. (They don’t call me
“Beermudgeon” for nothing!)
I believe the best beer to use with this recipe is a Belgian-Style dubbel, a brown ale
with sweet and malty notes and an underlying Belgian-y twang from the yeast used
to brew the beer. Examples of the style include Westmalle Dubbel, Chimay Red,
Ommegang Abbey Ale and Brewers Art Resurrection Ale. I ran across some recipes
calling for a Belgian tripel or even a saison, but I think their flavor profiles don’t make
sense in this dish. Save them to drink WITH the final product.
The recipe below is an adaptation of several recipes that I found online for carbonnade, including ones from chef Charlie Palmer,
renowned cookbook author Dorie Greenspan and Belgian YouTube cook Jeffrey Vermaesen. With their templates, combined with my
training, I think I’ve come up with a recipe that you will be proud to share with your family and guests.
When I served my final product, I paired it with a barley risotto, since barley is a main ingredient in the beer-making process. The
stew would also go nicely with mashed potatoes, buttered noodles or roasted root vegetables.
Recipe
Serves 4
Cooking time: Approximately 3 hours (90 minutes active)
Ingredients
✶ 2 lbs. beef chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
✶ ¼ cup AP flour
✶ ½ stick (4 Tbsp.) unsalted butter
✶ 6-8 cloves garlic, chopped
✶ 4 slices bacon, chopped
✶ 3 medium onions (approx.. 1-1/2 lbs.), thinly sliced (pole
to pole)
✶ 2 x 11.2oz (330ml) bottles or 1 750ml bottle Belgianstyle brown or amber ale (ex. Westmalle Dubbel, Chimay
Red, Ommegang Abbey Ale)
✶ 1 cup beef stock
✶ 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
✶ 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
✶ 1 oz. fresh thyme, minced (1 Tbsp. dried)
✶ 1 oz. fresh parsley (1 Tbsp. dried)
✶ 1 oz. fresh tarragon (2 tsp. dried)
✶ 1 bay leaf
✶ 1 slice brown/rye bread
✶ 1 Tbsp. Dijon-style mustard
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Method
Season beef all over with pepper and salt, then toss with AP flour
to coat. Melt ½ of the butter (2 Tbsp.) in Dutch oven over mediumhigh heat, then brown the beef, working in batches so that the
meat browns, not steams, approx. 8 mins. Remove beef to plate.
Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees F.
Add bacon to Dutch oven to render fat, then reduce heat to
medium and add remaining butter, garlic and onions, cooking until
onions are caramelized, approx. 30 min.
Add half the beer and bring to simmer, scraping the fond from
the bottom of the Dutch oven, until liquid is slightly reduced.
Return beef to the pot and add remaining beer, beef stock, brown
sugar, cider vinegar and herbs. Re-season with salt and pepper to
taste. Spread piece of bread generously with Dijon mustard and
place mustard-side down in stew, pressing to submerge. Bring to
hard simmer, then transfer to oven with lid on Dutch oven. Cook
until beef is tender, approx. 90 min. The bread and mustard will help
thicken the stew.
Serve over mashed potatoes or noodles, with roasted vegetables
(potatoes, carrots, turnips, parsnips, etc., to your taste), or other
appropriate side dish.
