Beef Carbonnade (Beef in Beer)

5.22.11 : 142/365

This:

Turned into this, Beef Carbonnade:

We used an adaptation of the Beef in Beer recipe from Laura Calder's 'French Taste: Elegant Everyday Eating' cookbook.
Beef in Beer
Makes: 6 Servings

2 tbsp butter or beef drippings, more as needed
1 tbsp olive oil
3 pounds sirloin tip, cut into fat strips
3 large onions, sliced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp brown sugar
1.5 c beef stock
2 c dark or amber beer
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Salt & pepper
1 bouquet garni (bay leaf, thyme sprig, a few parsley stems)

Heat the oven to 325F. melt butter with the oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat, and, working in batches, brown the beef strips on both sides. Remove from the pan. In the same pan, fry the onions until soft, about 15 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the pan. (Check if there is fat in the pan. If not, add a good tablespoon of butter and let it melt. Add the flour and sugar to the pan, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute to make a roux. Gradually whisk in the stock, and bring to boil, stirring. Add the beer and the vinegar, and bring back to boil, cooking until thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

In a large casserole, layer the onion mixture alternately with the beef strips, seasoning each layer as you go with salt and pepper. Tuck in the bouquet garni, and pour the liquid over. Cover, and bake for 2.5 hours. If you can wait a day before eating*, cool the dish completely when it's out of the over, and refrigerate overnight. The flavour will be even better when you reheat.

*we couldn't wait!!*

When we were in Belgium several years ago now, we had this 'sauce' with beef remnants in it smothering famous Belgian fries... out of this world... I can't make that up!!