Every time our lace making sister comes home from Belgium, one of the first things she’s eager to do is cook something from her adopted homeland for all the sisters here at home. Not only does she want to introduce us to Flemish cooking, she also wants to be able to share the response of the sisters “here” with those “back there.”

This time, she’s chosen to make Flemish Beef stew, a simple stew with a unique flavor provided by one key ingredient, which is beer. Frequently when referring to this meal it will be said “The better the beer the better the stew.” Now beer is not something we regularly have on hand in the convent, but only when its given to us as a gift for some celebratory occasion, but our determined sister would not be put off by lack of one ingredient, even though it be the most important one in the recipe. She is known for having everything fall into place at the right moment regardless of the odds. So it was no surprise to anyone when a 6 pack of Stella Artois appeared on the kitchen counter. Without skipping a beat, she continued working on her stew while quietly throughout the convent sisters could be heard quietly chanting “The better the beer, the better the stew.”

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Flemish Beef Stew

SERVINGS 8servings CHANGE SERVING SIZE servings

COOK TIME 15mins

PREP TIME 30mins

READY IN 8 hrs45 min

Ingredients

• 4 tsp canola oil divided
• 2 lbs beef, bottom round trimmed of fat and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 3/4 lb cremini or white button mushrooms sliced
• 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 cups dark brown ale or dark beer
• 4 large carrots peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 bay leaf

Instructions

1. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add half the beef and brown on all sides, turning frequently, about 5 minutes
2. Transfer to a slow cooker and drain any fat from the pan.
3. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil and brown the remaining geef and add to the slow cooker.
4. Add mushrooms to the skillet and cook, stirring often, until they give off their liquid (5-7 minutes).
5. Sprinkle flour over the mushrooms and cook for half a minute. Add beer and bring to a boil, whisking constantly to reduce foaming, until thickened and bubbliing, about 3 minutes. Add the mushroom mixture to the beef in the slow cooker.
6. Add carrots, onion, garlic, mustard, caraway seeds, salt, pepper and bay leaf to the slow cooker and stir to combine.
7. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low until the beef is very tender, about 8 hrs.

Flemish Beef Stew made by Sisters of the Community of Jesus on Cape Cod