Recipe - Flemish Beef Stew Cooked In Beer

4 pound Beef stew meat; 2" cubes
1 teaspoon Salt
One half teaspoon Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoon Flour; to 3 tb
3 tablespoon Unsalted butter; to 4 tb
3 lg Onions; thinly cut or sliced up
24 ounce Belgian beer
2 Sprigs thyme; to 3 sprigs
2 Bay leaves
1 One half tablespoon Red currant jelly
1 tablespoon Red wine vinegar

1. Season beef cubes with salt and pepper and coat with flour. Shake off
any excess.

2. In a large, heavy skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over high heat
until hot, but not smoking. Add beef cubes and saute until nicely browned
on all sides. Work in batches so as not to crowd beef cubes or they will
steam instead of saute. Add another tablespoon of butter, if needed.
Transfer beef to a heavy Dutch oven.

3. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in the same skiller over medium heat.
Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 15
minutes. Combine onions and meat in Dutch oven.

4. Add beer to skillet. Raise heat to high and bring to a boil, scraping
the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits.

5. Pour beer over meat. Add thyme and bay leaves. Simmer, covered, over low
heat until meat is very tender, 1 One half to 2 hours.

6. Just before servig, stir in jelly and vinegar; simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Taste, adding more salt and pepper if
needed.

From "Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook" by Ruth Van Warebeck;
printed in the Chicago Sun Times, October 9, 1996
Posted to MMRecipes Digest V3 #315

Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 16:13:16 +0000

From: Linda Place placel@worldnet.att.net