Cooking with and Drinking Belgian Beer

On a recent trip to New York, while staying with my aunt and uncle I discovered an article in Bon Appetit about Belgian beer in New York City. My uncle Alan loves Belgian beer. He has quite the collection of glasses, as the type and shape of a glass is an important aspect of drinking Belgian beer. So it was very appropriate that I found this article, and while I was there I got to sample some Belgian beer called Leffe. This reminded me of the braised short ribs that my mother once made using Belgian beer, a recipe Alan had passed along to her. I decided to cook these short ribs last night. They were delicious and tender, the meat falling right off the bone. When I emailed Alan about my success he told me that the recipe was a variation of Tom Valenti’s standard short ribs made with beef broth. The Belgian beer in this variation gives such a nice flavor. At our supermarket in San Francisco they did not have Leffe beer, but after a quick consultation with Alan I chose a Chimay.

Alan’s Belgian Beer Braised Short Ribs

6 pounds short ribs (about 6 pieces)

coarse salt

freshly ground black pepper

garlic powder

¼ cup olive oil

1 medium Spanish onion, peeled and coarsely chopped

3 sticks celery, coarsely chopped

1 carrot peeled and coarsely chopped

8 cloves garlic smashed and peeled

2 cups Belgian Beer (Leffe)

9 cups store bought beef broth

3 sprigs thyme

1 bay leaf

*original recipe but I only made 4 short ribs so I reduced everything a little plus I used my dutch oven instead of a roasting pan.

The day before cooking, season the ribs with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cover with saran and refrigerate overnight (not absolutely necessary if you don’t have the time the day before but does taste better.)

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

Heat the olive oil in a large roasting pan over medium high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the ribs and brown them on all sides, about 1 minute per side (usually takes a little longer.) Remove from pan and set aside.

Discard all but 2 tablespoons fat from pan. (If butcher does a good job, you won’t have anything to discard) Add the onion, celery, carrot and garlic to the pan. Cook, stirring often until lightly browned, about 8 minutes.

Add the beer, broth, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil over high heat.

Return the ribs to the pan, cover with aluminum foil and braise in the oven for 1 hour. Remove the aluminum foil and cook for 3 more hours or until the meat is very tender and falling off the bone.

To serve, remove the ribs from the braising liquid and divide among 6 warm shallow bowls or plates. (leave the bone, it makes for a dramatic presentation.) Strain the braising liquid, discarding the solids. Skim off and discard the fat from the liquid and pass as a sauce at the table.

I served the short ribs on top of egg noodles mixed with some butter, salt, and pepper. The noodles absorbed the gravy very nicely and I thought it was a good pairing. I also think they would go well with mashed or roasted potatoes. I know they take a long time to cook, but they are so worth it!

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I kept my eyebrows

I recently received a lovely crème brulee set from Mike’s parents John and Joan Hession. I could not wait to try it out since crème brulee is one of my favorite desserts. I found a recipe in my Ina Garten cookbook Barefoot in Paris, where she claims that if you make this dessert for a guy he will “follow you anywhere.” It was then clear that this was the recipe to use.

Crème Brulee

1 extra-large egg

4 extra large egg yolks

½ cup of sugar plus a little extra for the top

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

3 cups of heavy cream

1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees

Serves 5-6

The first thing I did was mix the egg, egg yolks, and ½ cup of sugar together with my hand help mixer until they were combined. While I was mixing those ingredients Mike tended to the heavy cream. It is important to heat the cream in a heavy saucepan until it is scalded but not boiling. Once the heavy cream was scalded, Mike added it to the egg mixture very slowly while I held the mixer on a low speed until the cream and egg mixture were fully combined. The last step was to add the vanilla and Grand Marnier and stir it together. The mixture is then ready to be poured into the ramekins.

My crème brulee set came with a pan and a ramekin holder, which is very convenient, but not necessary. Once the mixture was poured into the ramekins until almost full, I placed them in a baking pan and poured boiling water in until filled halfway up the ramekins. I carefully put the pan into the oven and baked for 35- 40 minutes, until the custards were set. After baking, I removed the ramekins from their bath and let them cool to room temperature. Once cooled, I put them in the fridge until they were completely firm. The next step was the most fun because it involved a torch. I just used a torch that I bought at the hardware store which only cost $15.00. Some of the fancy cook ones which range from $35-50. It was a little hard to light, but once we got it lit it was a blast to use. I spread a little bit of sugar on top of the brulee in an even, thin coating. Then, starting at one side, torched the sugar so it was a medium brown color and the sugar was caramelized. They were delicious and really fun to make.

The advice I would give is to not use too much sugar because then it burns and does not caramelize easily. I can’t wait to make it again!

Thanks to the Hessions for a great gift!