Food Pairing: Carbonnade a la Flamande + Laughing Ass Dubbel

Posted at 7:25 pm by Patrick under Food Pairings, Home Brewing

I have wanted to try my hand at “cuisine a la biere” for a while now, and my friend Mark loaned me his copy of the latest Cook’s Illustrated, which had a recipe for Carbonnade a la Flamande — or Belgian beef stew made with beer.

I was a little surprised at the amount of onions in it — the recipe (enough for 6 servings) called for 2 pounds — but after a long simmer on the stovetop and two hours in the oven, they were reduced to almost nothing. It filled the house with a really wonderful aroma: part acidic, part roastiness from the reduction of the dubbel, and a lot whole of beefiness from the shoulder roast used for the stew meat. I did not have the bay leaves the recipe called for, but it still came out quite well. Cook’s serving suggestions included mashed potatoes or buttered egg noodles. For time’s sake, I went with the buttered egg noodles, and they were a great accompaniment. The butter added a touch of richness and the wide, undulating noodles held on to the viscous stew.

The dubbel I served at the table, though 12 ounces were used in the stew itself, still has enough of its own flavor strengths to provide a nice contrast to the finished meal. In particular, the chocolate and roast flavors in the beer stood out in the glass, but were undetectable in the stew. In all, I am very happy with the way it turned out, and suspect this will become one part of an upcoming beer dinner.

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