Carbonnade à la Flamande Recipe (2024)

Definitely my old Julia Child recipe I've made for nearly 50 years. Difference: sprinkle 2 TB flour over beef when adding back into the onions, stir and brown slightly; use a bottle of Newcastle Brown or other ale; cut thick bacon into lardons, cook them, remove, add them back into the stew before braising in oven. This gives the Carbonnade another layer of flavor. Served with parsley new potatoes and salad, it's an unctuously wonderful meal. PS: always use my Creuset Dutch Oven.

I ate and learned to make carbonnade from my long-ago work at Gambrinus, a Belgian restaurant in Austin, TX, closed now for many years. The true Belgian version includes a good beer (Belgium has more breweries per capita than any other country!), a flour/herb mixture to coat the beef cubes before browning, and absolutely crucial is the Dijon mustard mixed into the sauce (mustardy flavor plus the vinegar already in mustard! Changes everything!)

This is Julia Child's recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Delicious, satisfying... wonderful.

This is a dish my father in law makes often and one ingredient I see missing from here that he always includes is pain d’épices (or ginger bread). I think with that added, you could forego the cornstarch. Another option to really bring out the Flemish aspect of the dish would be to add spéculos instead of gingerbread. The spices in either really balance out the dish and add a warming complexity. Also, beef cheeks work wonderfully for a long braise like this, and we use it often.

This is simply the best stew recipe I have tried, period. So simple, so easy, and the flavor is out of this world. But PLEASE use a robust Belgian brew. Makes all the difference.

The beer used is important. Either a Belgian Dubbel, Quad, or Dark Abby ale is preferred, and the IBU's need to be low (35 or less), or else the bitterness from the hops will cook into the stew. Some America brewers making Belgian-style ales have a heavy hand with the hops, and Belgian beers are about the malt and yeast, not the hops. Unibroue's Maudite or Trois Pistoles will work well.Served over a bed of frites and you have Stoofvlees, which is more traditionally Flemish.

Figaro said the Carbonnade was unctuously wonderful. If your Carbonnade is oily and slippery (unctuous), you've done something wrong.It should be richly flavored, deeply brown, and fragrant. Serve with home made egg noodles, a bottle of beer, or a Gattinara or other acidic deep red.Wonderful meal... easy and great for a group because one can prepare it even the night before.But don't let it get unctuous. (:

I ate and learned to make carbonnade from my long-ago work at Gambrinus, a Belgian restaurant in Austin, TX, closed now for many years. The true Belgian version includes a good beer (Belgium has more breweries per capita than any other country!), a flour/herb mixture to coat the beef cubes before browning, and absolutely crucial is the Dijon mustard mixed into the sauce (mustardy flavor plus the vinegar already in mustard! Changes everything!)

Send my wife out with the shopping list. Came back with Guinness. Works well. à la Irish...

Any thoughts on how this recipe might be adapted for a pressure cooker?

With due respect to Julia Child, combined her recipe with Saveur’s. Prefer to season and toss the meat in 1/4 cup flour before browning in bacon fat. Would never use cornstarch for thickening other than Asian sauces. Onions caramelized beautifully with the garlic, s&p in about 30 minutes. Added sugar and cider vinegar with the beef broth, 2-/2 cups Guinness Stout, dried thyme, pinch of tarragon, bay and fresh parsley. Baked for 2-1/2 hours. Reduced sauce. Sublime over egg noodles.

Definitely my old Julia Child recipe I've made for nearly 50 years. Difference: sprinkle 2 TB flour over beef when adding back into the onions, stir and brown slightly; use a bottle of Newcastle Brown or other ale; cut thick bacon into lardons, cook them, remove, add them back into the stew before braising in oven. This gives the Carbonnade another layer of flavor. Served with parsley new potatoes and salad, it's an unctuously wonderful meal. PS: always use my Creuset Dutch Oven.

I didn't change anything, I even made bacon for fat, yet recipe had little taste. I used a stainless pot, no doubt a cast iron would have improved the flavor & maybe that's what others who rated this well used. I used about 3 cups of beer & there was too much liquid, using less would have intensified the flavor, but I did as directed. In a cast iron the liquid would have been better absorbed, I didn't think my cast iron was big enough but it would have been.

The nice thing about this recipe is that is simpler than many others you will find, but delicious, rich, complex and easy. I'm a big fan of beef stews - boeuf bourguignon, galbi, ropa vieja, etc., but this might be my favorite. Beer and onions baby.

This is Julia Child's recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Delicious, satisfying... wonderful.