2022 Tour de France - Stage 4: Dunkerque to Calais.
The Tour finally enters France, today. After the first three stages were in Denmark, it’s finally time for a super French dish, right?! Wrong! Today’s dish has deep roots in neighboring Belgian cuisine. Fortunately, for me, this is a very familiar dish. I love making this every fall. It’s not quite a winter-heavy beef bourguignon, but it hints at those notes. Of course, I am talking of Flemish Beef Carbonnade. Really the only way to make this a French version would be to find a nice dark French beer, like a brune Pelforth. Those are hard to come by, so I went with a standard Belgian dark beer instead. This dish has been a favorite of mine since I was a child, and my children love it as well. What’s not to love? Tender beef, covered in a luscious brown sauce, served over salty buttered broad egg noodles. In any country, this dish is amazing!
Beef Carbonnade
~5 lbs chuck roast
2 large yellow onions
2 bay leaves
Few sprigs of fresh thyme
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp flour
1 cup beef stock
½ cup chicken stock
1 bottle of dark French or Belgian beer
1.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Egg noodles
Butter
Cut the beef into rough 1-inch cubes, removing any sinew or silver skin. Season the beef with kosher salt and black pepper. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown half of the meat for about 4 minutes. Stir and cook for another few minutes. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and cook the remaining beef.
Meanwhile, slice your onion 1/4 -inch thick and tie the bay leaves and thyme together with butcher twine. Reserve.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Once all of the beef has been cooked and removed from the pot, add another teaspoon of fresh oil. Add in the onions, with a pinch of salt, and saute for about 10 minutes, until soft. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for another 5-10 minutes, until very soft and browned.
Stir in the minced garlic and tomato paste and cook for 60-90 seconds, stirring constantly. Then, add in the flour and continue stirring over medium heat, until fully incorporated, about a minute.
Add in the stock and beer, stirring up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil, then stir in the bundle of herbs, vinegar, and reserved beef (and any accumulated juices).
Return to a boil, then cover the pot and place in the oven. Cook for 2 hours until the beef is tender.
After about 90 minutes of cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and stir in the egg noodles. Cook until tender. Drain the noodles and return to the pot along with 4 tbsp of butter. Season with some salt. Taste for any additional butter to your preference.
To serve, place some buttered noodles on a dish and cover with the braised beef and gravy.
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Copyright 2022, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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