Beef braised in beer with parsnip purée

Name: Beef braised in beer with parsnip purée
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Belgian
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons plain flour; 2 teaspoons white sugar; 500 g potatoes, scrubbed; 1 medium brown onion, roughly chopped; 5 dried bay leaves; 6 sprigs flat-leaf parsley; 5 sprigs thyme; ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil; 2 x 1.5 kg beef shanks, cut in half*; 40 g butter, melted; 2 teaspoons freshly ground white pepper; 1 kg parsnips, peeled; 3 teaspoons salt; 375 ml beer; 60 g butter; salt, to taste; 1 medium carrot, roughly chopped; freshly ground black pepper, to taste; 100 ml 35%-fat cream; 1 stick celery, roughly chopped; 1 clove garlic; 2 large brown onions, thickly sliced

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Complex

Appears in

Wild Weed Pie

By Janni Kyritsis and Roberta Muir

Published 2006

About

This is a classic Belgian dish called beef carbonade. The Belgians use beer in numerous dishes, while the Irish make a classic beef and Guinness pie and lovely stews using Guinness. I had a wonderful beef carbonade in a Belle Époque-style Belgian restaurant in Paris called Bouillon Racine. I was fascinated by the number of dishes on the menu containing beer, and the immense list of beers they had on offer. I have tried many different versions of beef carbonade, but I like this one best.

Ingredients

Europe
Belgium
Stew
Main course

Ingredients

Method