Neighbours. Everybody needs good neighbours.
With a little understanding,
You can find the perfect blend.
Neighbours…should be there for one another
That’s when good neighbours become good friends.
In case you weren’t singing along to the above, those words are from the theme tune to the famous Australian soap opera, ‘Neighbours’. Since it’s launch in 1985, it has been one of the world’s most popular television series, launching the careers of stars such as Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and Natalie Imbruglia. It’s an institution.
Living in our street is a lot like living in Erinsborough, it seems. We’ve got some great neighbours – none more so than Leander who lives upstairs.
Leander recently invited Elisa and myself to join him and his girlfriend, Sarah, for a ‘Stoverijavond’ – a night of Flemish stew with Chimay Bleue.
FLEMISH STEW WITH CHIMAY BLEUE
Flemish stew is the national dish of Belgium. In Flanders it’s ‘Stoverij’. In Wallonia it’s ‘Carbonnades Flamandes’. It is homely. It is comforting. It is really delicious. And most pleasingly of all, you make it with beer.
You can find it in most ‘frietkoten’ and restaurants and the basic ingredients are generally tougher meat that is required to cook for a long time (mostly beef shoulder) and of course, dark beer. Often a slice of bread with mustard is added to thicken the sauce and it is a common dish popular in family homes in Belgium since ancient times.
A simple recipe is below if you feel you can handle the taste.
THE BEERS
Of course the beer didn’t just go into the stew. It also went into a glass. And then into our mouths.
CHIMAY BLEUE
This is the beer that Leander used in the stew and so we chose it to match up with the food. It’s got a complex flavour profile of red berry fruits and spice with a warming booziness ( 9% ABV). It’s a big beer which stands up to the flavours of the meat.
ROCHEFORT TRAPPISTES (8 & 10)
The Rochefort Trappistes 8 and it’s bigger and more complex cousin, Rochefort Trappistes 10 are of course, also well-suited to such a hearty meal and so we cracked open a few bottles to enjoy before, during and after the feed.
There’s more chocolate here in flavour than the Chimay with distinct dried fruit esters, raisins and plums. At 11.3% ABV, you should be sitting down to drink the 10.
DESSERT: THE CARAÏBE CAKE
So you’ve had some aperitifs. You’ve enjoyed a few Belgian strong ales. You’ve eaten your fill of delicious Flemish stew with Chimay Bleue. And now you’re looking for something to finish it off. It’s got to be delicate, right? It’s got to be chocolate, right? It’s got to be cake, right? Elisa produces a fresh Caraïbe cake from her chocolate class of the previous evening.
The Caraïbe cake was made in a ring mould and consisted of a Joconde biscuit with layers of chocolate mousse, vanilla cream and a glaze on top. Many more complex variations are possible, but in chocolate class Elisa used a delicious chocolate mousse. You can check out this link for a Caraïbe cake using a different but what looks like an equally delicious recipe.
THE RECIPE: FLEMISH STEW WITH CHIMAY BLEUE
The recipe for the stoverij which Leander kindly passed on to us is as follows (4 persons):
→ Cut 2 big onions, 4 cooking apples and 8 (big) carrots. Cut the meat in cubes (beef: 200-250 g of ‘stoofvlees’ per person).
→ Briefly fry the meat in a pan with butter. It should still be red inside; this is just to ‘close’ the outside of the cuts so that they do not lose too much moisture later on.
→ Glaze the onions in a big pot with some butter. When they are halfway done, add the apple pieces, and keep them on the heat while stirring. They should turn a little brownish.
→ Keep the heat on and add the carrots, meat and 75 cl of a brown beer (Leander used Chimay bleue but you can use Rochefort or Leffe – most darker beers will do the trick but of course the taste will be slightly different depending on the kind of beer).
→ Add herbs to taste. Leander used salt and pepper, fresh garlic (which you can mash for more taste), thyme (a lot), oregano (less) and marjoram, (just a bit). Stir to mix everything.
→ Spread (Tierenteyn) mustard over 2-3 slices of brown bread. Put the bread on top of the sauce (mustard facing down) with the heat halfway (it should be cooking but not boiling).
→ Now leave the stoverij for as long as necessary (typically no less than an hour), with occasional stirring every ten minutes or so to avoid burning at the bottom of the pot. The sauce should become dark brown and thick; the apples and the bread should disappear.
→ When the meat and carrots are tender, it’s time to serve the stoverij with ‘frietjes’ (fries) or potatoes in the peel. You can also add a salad (radishes, cucumber, … all go well with the stoverij) – Leander used tomatoes which added a real freshness and wonderful colour.
There you go. So now you have lots of ideas to host a ‘Stoverijavond’ with your own neighbours.
That’s when good neighbours become good friends
