Flemish Carbonades

I'm always looking for a good crock pot recipe and an alternative to beef stew, so today I tried Mable Hoffman's recipe for Flemish Carbonades, of course, with a little twist of my own. This recipe comes from her classic, Crockery Cookery.

Flemish Carbonades

2-3 lbs boneless beef chuck, cut into 1 inch cubes (I used beef stew meat)
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp brown sugar
1 clove garlic, minced (next time, I'll use 2-3 cloves)
1 (12 oz) can or bottle of beer
2 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled (I didn't have bacon)
3 tbs cornstarch
1/4 cup water
Cooked noodles

In the crock pot, combine meat, onion, salt, pepper, brown sugar, garlic, beer and bacon. (I didn't have bacon, but I wanted some fat in there to simulate the bacon, so I added 2 small pads of butter.) Cover and cook on low 5-7 hours or until meat is tender (mine was in for 10 hours).

Turn controls to high. Dissolve cornstarch in water and stir into meat mixture. I also added some frozen corn (peas would've been good too!). Cover and cook on high for 20-30 minutes until slightly thickened. Serve over noodles.

I made whole wheat egg noodles and actually stirred them into the stew mixture. It was delicious. Going forward, if I'm without the bacon, I'll need to remember to add more salt in the beginning, since I did need to add it in the end.

This was comforting, warm food to come home to on a cooler day. I imagine this would be the kind of food you would've found in a pub in Victorian England. Warm, brown, and plenty of it!! Off for American Idol now!