Procedure for Braised Beef

Start by pouring yourself a beer. Next do your prep work: Mince the garlic. Dice the onion. Chop the sage, thyme, and rosemary. Cut the beef into ~1″ cubes. Cut the bacon into ~0.5″ pieces.

I like to make this stew in a Dutch oven. Over medium heat, cook the bacon until it is al dente. Using a slotted spoon remove the bacon to a bowl. Set it aside, you will be adding it back later. Now caramelize the onion in the bacon fat. Once the onion is caramelized, remove the onions, and put them in the bowl with the bacon. Now you are going to brown the meat. I like to let it have some good contact time with the bottom of the dutch oven. This develops some lovely, thick, crusty Melanoidins on the meat. Do it in batches, so you don’t over crowed your pan, and just steam your meat. Move the meat to the onion, and bacon bowl as it browns. Once you have your melanoidins looking lovely, add the bottle of Rodenbach Grand Cru, and deglaze the dutch oven. Return the onions, bacon, and meat. Add the garlic, thyme, rosemary, sage, black pepper, Hungarian Paprika, mustard, and bay leaves. Bring this mixture up to a boil while stirring. Once up to a boil, reduce the heat. Add your two slices of french bread, cover, and simmer for about two hours. (During this time, you are going to make your Spätzel. See recipe below) You want to cook the beef chuck until it starts to fall apart. Use a fork to test it. How is the thickness? You will most likely want to thicken it. Take a small measuring cup, and add 1/4 cup of the beer you are drinking. Now stir ~3 tbsp of flour into the beer, and work out all the lumps. Stir the beer, and flour mixture into the stew. It will thicken as it boils.

Procedure for Spätzel

In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, flour, pepper, and paprika. Mix this into a homogenized paste. Now thin it out with the liquid you chose. I typically just eyeball some Pilsner beer, out of the mug in my hand. Now you are going to work in batches. Use a rubber spatula to fill your Spätzel press. (potato ricer, with the big hole insert) Hold the the press over the pot of boiling water, and press it in. Spätzel does not take long to cook, about 30 seconds. It is done cooking when it floats to the top. I like to use a slotted spoon, or a spider to move the spätzel from the boiling pot of water, to a bowl. Once you are done cooking the spätzel you can dump it from the bowl into a colander to make sure you got all of the water out. Dump it back in the bowl, and serve. I like fill half of a plate with spätzel, then spoon the Carbonnade over the top. Serve it with buttered bread, and a vegetable, if you fancy.