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Recently, a concerned friend directed us to a recipe in the P-I’s “Cook It” section for an easy "stew.” This “stew”, which consists of a lot of things from cans, promises to be not only delicious, but ready in 15 minutes! This is when we got annoyed. You know what's fast and delicious? Grilled cheese. Or an omelette. Stew, however, is by DEFINITION a slow process. We got so indignant that we consulted our OED and guess what word we found literally peppering both the noun and verb forms of stew: slowly; as in, not in 15 minutes, or even 30 (you know who we're talking about). And while we hate to be overly critical, since we’re already there, the P-I’s “Cook It” slogan really seems to us like the culinary equivalent of the oh-so-wretched “git ‘er done.”
Conveniently, our new year’s resolution had been to eat more beef. So just about three weeks into the new year, and now armed with a vengeful desire to make a real stew, we finally decided to make good on our promise with a hearty dish from Julia Child: Carbonnades a la Flammande (loosely translated as beef stew like the Flemish). This recipe closely resembles Boeuf Bouguignon, the classic French beef stew made with red wine and bacon--but from Belgium, so not quite as fussy, and with beer. If you, like us, are a little trepidatious in the beef department, this is a good one to try; it’s reliable and even if you do screw up, it's made with cheap-ish cuts of meat. It does take a few hours, but most of that time you can spend writing angry letters to the P-I; and when you’re all done, you can enjoy the smug satisfaction of eating something that did not take 15 minutes, thank you very much.
The full recipe is after the jump.
Carbonnades a la Flammande
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by Julia Child and Simone Beck
In 1961, this recipe apparently served 6 people. Now I would say that it safely serves about 35, okay more like 8.
3 lbs. beef (chuck or rump roast--you can ask your butcher if you’re unsure)
some oil
3-4 onions, sliced
salt and pepper
4 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped up
1 cup beef stock or broth
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 cups beer
herbs: bay leaf, thyme, parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Cut your meat up into nice pieces, about 2 inches wide, pat dry. In a heavy skillet, heat a few tablespoons of oil almost to smoking. In batches, brown your beef. This specifically means put only a few pieces in at a time so that the temperature in the pan stays nice and high and leave them there without moving them for at least a minute so that they get some caramel-ly color. Transfer the browned pieces to a casserole or dutch oven (something that’s at least four inches deep and that has a lid or that you can cover with foil). Add your sliced onions. Add your chopped garlic and some salt, pepper and herbs. Add your stock, brown sugar and beer.
Bring to a simmer on the stove and then cover and transfer to a 275 degree oven. Cook for approximately 2 1/2 hours at a slow simmer, check the stew ever so often and change the oven temperature accordingly--you don’t want to cook it fast or the meat will be tough like leather.
When the meat is tender, we like to use a fork and pull it into smaller pieces. If you want to, at this point, you can pour the liquid into a saucepan and thicken it a bit with the cornstarch. Whisk the cornstarch with the vinegar first to prevent it from clumping, add it to the liquid and simmer for a couple of minutes. Check the seasoning and then add it back to your meat. You can eat your stew now, or refrigerate it and re-heat it later; the flavors only develop more over time.
Julia recommends serving this with buttered noodles and green salad.
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Had this in Belgium recently. They brought out a bowl of frites and you spooned the stew and some applesauce on top. It was good.
I am not a beer fan so I asked Rachael what could be substituted. I used red wine at her suggestion, and the stew was mouth watering.
I am not a fan of beer, so I asked Rachael what I could substitute. She suggested red wine, which I tried, and the stew was deeply rich and delicious.