Beef in Beer

After splashing out on a brand new, volcanic orange, Le Creuset casserole dish, we were desperate to put it to use. And what better way than with a recipe straight from the Le Creuset website. They call it beef in beer, and in line with the unpretentious nature of this blog, we're sticking with that (having said that, we did just buy a le Creuset dish...). However, I believe the fancier name for it is carbonnade of beef.


Serves 5-6

For the beef:

• Vegetable oil
• 2 large onions, sliced
• 2 garlic gloves, chopped
• 500g carrots, roughly chopped
• 1kg diced casserole beef
• A few springs each of rosemary, thyme and parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• 750ml pale ale
• 175ml water
• Salt and ground black pepper

For the bread topping:

• 8-12 thick (2-3cm) slices of french bread
• Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

Heat the oil in a pan, and fry the onions, garlic, and carrots until softened. Pour into your brand new Le Creuset casserole dish (or, indeed, any other casserole dish), trying to keep some of the juices in the pan.

Preheat the oven to 140°C

Put half of the beef into the pan and brown slightly, then add the rest and brown evenly. Add to the casserole dish, along with the herbs, ale and water. Season with salt and pepper - Don't overdo it though, you can add more later if it needs it.

Cover and place the casserole dish in the oven and leave for 3 and a half hours (during which, your kitchen will being to smell amazing). Spread the Dijon mustard on the bread, and place the bread tightly on top of the beef, so that it just sits on top of the juices. Sprinkle over the parsley, and then return the casserole dish, covered, to the oven for another 30 minutes.

A good casserole dish will keep this meal warm for a few hours, so you can take it out of the oven and wait until your guests are ready to eat. We didn't need anymore carb, but if you do, I suggest more fresh bread to mop up the delicious juices! The Le Creuset recipe suggests jacket potatoes, pasta, rice or mash.

After a total of 4 hours in the oven, the beef should be deliciously tender