Belgian Beef Stew

Southern cooking is tied to the seasons. I eat my weight in strawberries April through May, crave fresh tomatoes in late June and peaches in August. Eating seasonally is what makes Southern cuisine budget friendly. So when we hit September and the temperature dips below 75 (hey- have 4 weeks of 100 degree and above temperatures and 75 is a little brisk), I start craving soups and stews. This is one of my favorites.

Belgian Beef Stew

¼ lb bacon

3 tbsp olive oil

4 lbs boneless chuck, bottom and top round, cut into 2-inch pieces

½ c flour + 1 tsp salt + ¼ tsp black pepper mixed together

2 medium onions, sliced
1 celery stalk

12 ounces of mushrooms (I use baby bellas and quarter them. You may prepare them how you like.)

¼ c cognac

1 tsp salt

½ tsp dried thyme leaves

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 shallots, sliced

3 garlic cloves

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 12 ounce can dark beer or stout

1 ½ c beef broth

Cook the bacon on a Dutch oven until brown and crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Cut beef into 2” cubes. Dredge the cubes in flour and brown over medium heat in Dutch oven. This will need to be done in batches, making sure to not overcrowd the pan. Overcrowding will steam the meat instead of browning.

Okay, truthfully- I did not completely brown the onions before I added the mushrooms.
Next time, I will have more patience grasshopper. :)

Remove beef. Brown the onions and celery. Once brown, add the mushrooms. Reduce the heat to low, remove the pan from the burner and add the cognac. Once added, return to burner.

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Return the bacon, beef and onions to the Dutch oven. Stir in the salt, thyme, pepper, bay leaves, garlic, shallots, brown sugar, beer and broth. Heat the stew to a simmer and place in the oven. Cook 2 to 2 ½ hours or until the meat is fork-tender, stirring occasionally.

This stew may also be simmered on the stove top for 2 hours. 

I would love to show you a picture of the finished product but I realized this was gobbled up before I could get a picture.  I guess that means I need to make more. Yay!

A few options:

You can add potatoes, carrots and peas if you would like. I wanted to serve this over rice so I limited my ingredients and it was a thick almost gravy-like stew perfect for rice and crusty bread. That is the great thing about this recipe, it is a great foundation in which to play.

You may swap the the protein. You can certainly use a cheaper cut of pork or boneless, skinless chicken thighs. If you use chicken, I would use 2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thighs and two pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, flouring and browning as stated above but adding the chicken breast the last hour of cooking.

You may also substitute the cognac with beef broth if you would prefer.

Keep it Sassy!

love- j