Belgian beef carbonnade

Updated at: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 07:38:14 GMT

Step 1

Place the lardons in a large casserole dish, and place over a medium heat, cooking until the lardons crisp. Lower the heat, add a tablespoon of the vegetable oil, and cook the onions until they are soft but not yet coloured. Set the lardons and onions to one side.

Step 2

Add a second tablespoon of vegetable oil to the casserole dish, and brown off the beef in batches (don’t overcrowd the pan, as the beef will steam rather than brown).

Step 3

Stir the flour into the browned beef, return the lardons and onions to the pan, and add the tomato paste, garlic, mustard, beer, beef stock, sugar and bay leaves. Season generously with salt.

Step 4

Bring the whole mixture up to simmer, then cook for 3 hours. Give the casserole a good stir. The liquid should be glossy and coat the back of a spoon – if it’s too thin for your tastes, you can continue to simmer it for another 30 minutes. Once the sauce thickness is to your liking, taste and correct the seasoning if necessary. Remove the bay leaves and serve.

Step 5

Carbonnade à la Flamande

Step 6

Makes: Enough for four

Step 7

Takes: 20 minutes

Step 8

Bakes: 3 hours (on the hob)

Step 9

200g smoked lardons

Step 10

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Step 11

1 large onion, sliced

Step 12

800g beef shin or stewing steak

Step 13

2 tbsp plain flour

Step 14

1 tbsp tomato paste

Step 15

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Step 16

330ml belgian beer

Step 17

400ml beef stock

Step 18

½ tbsp Dijon mustard

Step 19

1 tbsp dark sugar

Step 20

2 bay leaves

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