The Flemish carbonnades

Is a dish from the Benelux and the north of France, consisting of pieces of meat simmered in a beer sauce. The Burgundy beef is a cousin, where wine replaces beer.

It was so named because the meat was roasted on charcoal, from the Latin "carbonis", hence its name.

The Flemish carbonnade consists of cutting beef, pork or horse meat pieces and cooking them with beer (traditionally a Belgian or Nord-Pas-de-Calais dark beer) and onions. It is sometimes prepared with gingerbread and a little brown sugar or Liège syrup. Note that the fries that accompany this dish are very often prepared in beef fat.

Originally, the carbonnade, is a dish of meat grilled on the coals. Thus, we spoke of carbonnade of mutton, of ham with carbonnade.

According to the dictionary, it was also a "stew in use in the south of France, where it is made with onions, garlic and leftover meat"
Nowadays, in Belgium and in the northern regions of France, the Flemish carbonnades are a dish of beef, usually composed of diced pork, in a sauce with beer.

The paleron

It is a flat, fleshy part which borders on the scapula of the ox. This part corresponds, in man, to the deltoid muscle. In a butchery, it is a part of an ox or a pig situated in the upper and posterior region of the shoulder. This fleshy part of the shoulder is cooked in broth, stew or braised.

The calf or beef stew is located at the level of the scapula, near the collar. It is a fat and fleshy piece, separated in two by a nerve which gels in the dishes simmered. This specificity makes the paleron a choice piece for many recipes where this gelatinous side is appreciated: carbonnade, bourguignon, pot-au-feu, In the Belgian cut with the cattle breed Belgian Blue Blue (meat type and essentially reserved for butchery), this piece can be used in steak, braised and even in certain cases in fondue meat.

There is also a southern variant, sometimes prepared with beef, sometimes with bull meat: the gardianne.
There are also vegetarian versions of this dish, where the meat is replaced by seitan or tofu.

Recipe for 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 kg of lean beef to brais (paleron, lodging,
  pole, etc ...)
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 1 bouquet garni
• 1 l brown beer (brown Pelforth for a delicat
  taste, or Leffe Brown for a sweeter taste)
• 400 g onion
• 250 g whole smoked bacon (not bacon
  under vacuum)
• 5 slices of gingerbread (if possible house)
• 30 g butter
• Salt of Guerande
• 3 tablespoons mustard

Preparation: 30 min - Cooking time: 3 h

Step 1

Cut the meat into cubes 2 to 3 centimeters apart.

Step 2

Roughly cut the onions and cut the bacon into large bacon pieces.

Step 3

Melt the butter and sweat the onions in 10 minutes.

Step 4

Add the bacon by slightly increasing the fire, stir regularly while trying to keep covered as much as possible.

Step 5

Once the bacon is pink, remove the whole (except the juice) and reserve it in a dish.

Step 6

Put the fire to the max and put the meat in the casserole, stir regularly (do not cover), the meat must be colored on all sides, it will eventually make a lot of juice. Remove the casserole from the heat, put the meat in a dish, keeping the juice in the casserole.

Step 7

Dilute the brown sugar in the meat juice and put on the heat thoroughly to reduce it by half.

Step 8

Once reduced, set the mini on fire and mix the bacon and onion mixture with the syrup, add the meat and re-mix, add the bouquet garni and cover with beer between (80 cl and 1 liter), salt very slightly.

Step 9

Gently cover the entire surface with the 'mustard' spice bread. Simmer for 3 hours without stirring until the gingerbread is melted (remove the bouquet after 1 hour or 2 maxi). Adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Step 10

If after three hours the juice is still too liquid, simmer leaving the lid partially open, the sauce must be slightly sticky on the surface but very liquid underneath and should not burn at the bottom.

Advice

The ideal is to prepare the day before or 2 days before (it's even better) and then to simmer in 2 times: the first time simmer 1:30 to 2 hours let cool and reserve in the cool (at this time, preparation must be very liquid) and the next day, remove the film on the surface of fat rejected by the bacon, and reheat still for a mini fire for 1h30 to 2 hours by opening or not the lid according to the thickness of the sauce.

(Pictures source)