Stoofvlees

My recent visit to Amsterdam and Belgium introduced me to a variety of new foods from the old Low Countries. I ate Dutch Apple Pie in Amsterdam, sampled a Flemish beef stew called Stoofvlees, ate an incredible meal prepared by Stefan, which included his homemade Apricot Tart, and helped make and bake a sweet dessert pie called Smurfentaart, which is rarely known outside of the Limburg Region of Belgium.

Today’s blog is about making Stoofvlees, which is essentially beef stew made with brown beer. 

Ingredients

1 pound beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 tablespoon butter

1 onion, chopped

12 ounces brown beer

3 prunes, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 bay leaf

1 slice ginger bread (peperkoek)

1 tablespoon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Cut a pound of stewing beef meat into bite-size pieces. Roughly chop the onions and prunes and set aside.

Over medium-high heat, brown the beef chunks in butter, then add the onions and continue cooking until the onions are soft.

To the pot add the beer, chopped prunes, bay leaf, and tomato paste. Turn the heat down so that the stew simmers gently. After about an hour of stewing the meat, slather the mustard on one side of the bread and place it mustard-side down directly on the stew. The bread will dissolve into the stew during the final hour of cooking.

Check the stew after an hour and stir it to incorporate the bread and mustard into the stew.

Serve it like the Belgians: with potato fries, or frites, and another beer and enjoy!

I got a bit carried away with the pour, hence the large amount of foam.