Stoofvlees
This recipe should be enough for 6 people.
- large pan
- large cooking pot
- 2 kg of beef (can be a tougher cut, diced in 2x2 cm cubes)
- 4 large onions
- 2 carrots
- 3 bottles of dark brown beer (St. Bernardus Abt 12, for example)
- 150 ml meat bouillon (can use bouillon cubes)
- 4 tbsp Belgian apple/pear jam (stroop)
- 2 thick slices of brown bread
- 4 tbsp strong mustard
- 5 slices of gingerbread (peperkoek)
- 2 parsley branches
- 4 bay leaves
- 4 thyme branches
- 2 cloves
- peel the onions and cut them in large chunks
- slice the carrots
- prepare the meat bouillon
- bind the parsley branches together with the thyme and bay leaves
- dry the meat using kitchen paper or similar
- coat the meat with flour (if preparing a lot of meat, only coat half)
- in a large pan, melt some butter
- prepare the meat with pepper & salt
- bake the meat until golden brown on the outside (don’t fill the pan too much, don’t cover the bottom, do it 2x if needed)
- add the meat with the onions to the cooking pot
- use the beer to deglaze and clean the pan, bring it close to the boiling point
- add it to the meat and onions
- add the bouillon, cloves and apple/pear jam
- crumble in the gingerbread
- put the mustard on the bread and put it mustard side down in the pot
- let it cook on low to medium for 1.5 to 3 hours, without lid
- check regularly if the meat is cooked
- when the sauce has the desired thickness but the meat is not done yet, put on a lid
Serve with a fresh salad and ~1.2 kg of fries.
For a simple “witloof” salad, use 10 witloof, cut in long thin strips. Mix with 4 tablespoons of mayonnaise, a splash of vinegar, pepper and salt.