OUR FAVOURITE RECIPE
Stew with Dozeur
Frans Mortier, PPL sales manager, reveals his favorite recipe with Dozeur.
So, give this typical Belgian recipe a try, forget about that face mask and spoil those taste buds!
Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 3 hours Servings: for 6 people
Ingredients
· 1.5 kg beef from the neck or shoulder, cut into 2-3 cm cubes
· Salt and ground black pepper
· Butter (or cooking oil)
· 3 medium-sized yellow onions coarsely chopped
· 30 gr flour
· 1 75-cl bottle of Dozeur
· 2 bay leaves
· 1 slice of bread, well spread with mustard
· 1 slice of bread, spread with apple or pear syrup (or brown syrup)
Preparation
Take the meat and beer out of the fridge in good time, so that it is all at room temperature when you start cooking. Preheat the oven to 150°C/300 °F.
Brown the beef:
1. Pat the beef dry and then season well with salt and pepper.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large, heavy cooking pot over medium heat until it begins to brown.
3. Brown the meat, without stirring, in batches, about 3 minutes on each side. (Don't stir, allow the meat to brown properly.)
4. Put the browned beef into a separate dish.
Fry the onions:
1. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the frying pan and turn the heat up to medium.
2. Add the onions and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and sauté them until they are brown (about 5 minutes) but not too brown.
3. Add the flour and stir until it covers the onions evenly, and the flour is slightly browned, i.e. for around 2 minutes.
Throw everything in together:
1. Stir in the beer, scrape the bottom of the pan to ensure you get all the browned pieces.
2. Add the bay leaves, the browned beef (with the juices already released), season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Add the slices of bread and make sure they are covered in the beer.
4. Bring everything to the boil slowly.
5. Put the cooking pot, with the lid on, in the oven preheated to 150°C/300 °F for around 2 to 2 and a half hours.
Stir occasionally (every 45 to 60 minutes), scrape off everything that sticks to the bottom, make sure the bread melts into the gravy.
6. Add spices to taste.
And, of course, we Belgians eat stew with… the perfect Belgian fries
Ingredients
Take 2 large, floury potatoes per person.
1. Floury potatoes are perfect for fries. Because they are solid, they contain less water, which makes them extra crispy.
2. Waxy potatoes do not make good fries. This concerns red potatoes, fingerlings and new potatoes. They have a high moisture content and become hollow when the water evaporates when they are fried.
Preparation
Peel the potatoes and rinse them in cold water.
Cut the potatoes into finger-sized fries but do not rinse them again.
1. We need the starch to keep them a bit sweet and crispy...
2. Be aware, the thinner the fries, the more fat they’ll absorb...
Heat the oil to 150°/300 °F
1. The best oil for cooking fries is an oil that can tolerate high temperatures and does not alter the flavour of the fries. So the oils that best meet those criteria are canola, refined peanut, sunflower or corn oil.
2. Fry them in small portions for 5 to 6 minutes. This allows enough time to cook the potatoes through.
3. Don’t fill up your deep fry basket too much. To get them crispy, the oil must be able to reach all the fries evenly.
4. Take them out of the oil, spread them and allow them to cool down.
5. Repeat until all your fries have been pre-cooked. You can leave them like this for a while so that you can take your time to enjoy a pint of Dozeur with your guests.
Increase the temperature to 190 °C/375°F
1. Fry again in small batches until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes, so that the outside turns crisp and golden.
Place them on a paper towel and sprinkle salt on them straight away. Serve with mayonnaise!
It goes without saying that our Dozeur is the best beverage to serve with this simple but delicious dish. Needless to say the beer must be bitterly cold when served.
Enjoy!