Beef. Beer. Chocolate.

December, that time of the year: cold and rainy outside. Today I saw rain, hail and wet snow nearly at the same time. What’s better than a slow cooked beef stew as the ultimate comfort food?

Will the poor herbs on my little balcony garden survive this weather?

Yield: 2 to 3 servings

Basic ingredients:

• 600g beef brisket (or beef chuck)
• 2 mid sized onions
• 1 glove of garlic
• 2 carrots
• 1 bottle (250ml) of dark ale (I used a dutch beer ‘Brand Dubblebock’, a typical autunmbeer with a rich flavour)
• 1 fresh bay leaf (dried bay leaf is not a problem)
• 1 teaspoon of all purpose flour (or one slice of bread)
• 1 dash of vinegar (I used organic white balsamico vinegar)
• 1 beef stock cube (or your own beef stock)
• salt and pepper

Secret ingredient:

• 2 pieces of dark chocolate (I use one with 63%cacao)

Directions:

1Brown off diced onions and chopped garlic in some oil (I used olive oil) in a casserole. Add bay leaf.

2In a other sizzling hot pan, add oil and sear the beef brisket (cut in large chunks) both sides.

3Put the beef in the casserole with roughly chopped carrot.

4Add the all purpose flour (or bread), dash of vinegar and salt and pepper.

5Warm and reduce the beer a little in the pan where the beef was seared (don’t waste those little sticky goodness!).

6Add the reduced beer to the casserole with the beef, onion and carrots. Fill up with luke warm beef stock (dissolve the stock cube in warm water) till the meat is just submerged (so it depends on how large your casserole is).

7Last but not least: add the 2 pieces of dark chocolate and let everything simmer for about 2 till 3 hours.

After 2,5 hours

Another secret:

Do not let the stew boil. The best way to do that is cook it in the oven (140 degrees celsius). Since I don’t have the luxury of possessing a real oven, I use this trick: when the stew begin to boil, turn of the gas for 20 minutes. The residual heat will cook the meat in a gentle way. After 20 minutes turn on the gas again, when it boils, repeat the previous step. This process requires a little attention, but you will get the most delicious, comforting, tender meat.

Serve with creamy mashed potato.

Bon appetit