Post Mortem on Carbonnade Flamande

My oh my...now this is a dish for the hearty. Its simplicity is spectacular and really a great meal to put on the table for your gang - be they hungry kids or friends who have gathered around your table and long for a home cooked meal. A note on the preparation, if you plan on having this dish the same evening then start cooking yesterday. I say that because the key to this creation from the low-lands is time; time to let the beef simmer away for a couple of hours. Now I am sure with the modern marvels of kitchen-ware this can all be shoved in some machine, hooked up to the wall and presto you can now go about your merry way of doing whatever it was you were doing, billing clients, saving our country, catching the dog whatever. All things aside, it's wonderful how it all comes together: the onions, beef, beer, bacon, garlic, stock, seasoning. The aroma from the kitchen will have every dog and cat lurking around including even a few neighbors.

On the beer, you should do yourself a favor if your serious about making this dish and go with a Belgian beer. Reaching in the refrigerator and pulling out a Bud is not doing serious justice to this meal. I used Chimay-Red and one of the large bottles will easily take care of your two cups of beer and surprise, you will have some leftover to give to the dog or finish it yourself. It's a great beer and the Trappistes Fathers -theses monks knew what they were doing when they got in the business of  beer and bibles. Regarding the wine selection. I went with a very interesting selection that I can confidently recommend. A Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages from the southern Rhône wine region of France.  The wine is called "Les Becs Fins" a regional term meaning "demanding palates" and is made by Michele Tardieu of the Tardieu-Laurent winery. The selection stood up beautifully to the carbonnade yet did not loose any of the elegance associated a Côtes-du-Rhône.  

In summary: As they say in France "try it you'll like it."