Carbonade flamande or Belgian Beer Goulash

My neighbor came over for Easter Lunch and I wanted to serve something special.

A long simmered beef goulash is always a crowdpleaser. This is one of the 10 most famous Belgian dishes. It is made with dark beer. I made my own version, as always.

Ingredients for 4:

800 g beef chuck

2 tbsp flour

Salt, pepper

3 tbsp oil

3 medium onions

4 garlic cloves

1 small carrot

50 g leek

1 small celery stalk

500 ml dark beer (Belgium if available, but I used Stout)

2 cups beef broth

2 tsp dark sugar

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 bay leaves

1 tsp dried thyme

2 tbsp quince jam

2 tsp potato starch + 4 tbsp water

Cut the beef in bite size chunks and season it well with salt and pepper and flour it. The amount is too much to brown in a pot at once. Do it in two batches. Then take it out.

Chop all the veggies and put them with a little more oil on top of the brown gunk on the bottom of the pot. Don't worry it will go later. Let the veggies cook with a lid for 5 min. 

Now put in the beer and start scraping the bottom to get the flavour off. Add the beef and enough broth to cover it 1 inch high.

Add thyme and bay leaves and bring to a boil and cook covered on medium low for 2:45 min. After 2:30 check and put the slurry in to bind the sauce, if needed. Take a taste test. The beer makes it a bit bitter, add the quince jam or any kind of sweetener for balance.

We are cooking a Belgian dish, that means it is served with fries, what else!