Food: Belgian beer stew

In honor of our Belgian National Holiday, I made a traditional Belgian Beer Stew with fries and a chicory salad.

For beer, I used Kasteel donker, a dark Belgian quadrupel, and Rodenbach, a Flemish red-brown ale. Other dark beers that work very well are Leffe dark, Gouden Carolus Classic, and Rochefort 10.

For the stew, for 2 persons, you will need:

650 gram of beef meat for stewing

2 bottles of Kasteel Donker

25 cl Rodenbach

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon of flour

2 small or 1 big onion cut in half rings

2 bay leaves

1.5 teaspoons of sirop de Liége or another type of apple butter

1 teaspoon of dried veal stock

1 slice of bread with a good amount of mustard on 1 side

How to make it:

It is always better to make it a day ahead and leave it overnight in the fridge. That way, it will soak up all the flavors.

season the beef with salt and pepper

put some butter in a large cooking pot and brown the meat

add the onions and let cook a little while longer

sprinkle the flour over the meat and onions and stir well to let the flour “bake” a little bit

now it is time to add all the beer

and the bay leaves, stock, and sirop de Liége

put in the slice of bread with the mustard side down

let it simmer on a small fire for at least 3-4 hours, longer is always better

For the chicory salad: mix some sliced chicory with some mayonnaise (the amount is up to you, as this varies for different people). Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Bake your fries the way you want.

If you want, you can also add some more lettuce.

Enjoy your meal !!! Smakelijk !! Bon appétit !!!

Did you try to make Belgian Beer Stew? Which beer did you use?