Hachee a Dutch Stew with French Origens

Ingredients

• 1 Kg of Stewing beef. (Siedfleisch in Swiss German, Runderlappen in Dutch and bouilli in French). Make sure the meat has some fat as this enhances and carries the flavor. Cut the meat in large chunks and dust the beef in flour around 2 - 3 Tbspn
• 1.5 Kg Onions. 1 KG cut fine and pureed. The rest in nice medium sized chunks
• 0.5 liter of good quality beef stock
• 0.5 liter of good brown beer alternatively add o.5 liter of beef stock
• 3 - 4 Bay leaves
• 3 - 4 cloves grinded to a powder or chopped up (Then they will dissolve)Use less cloves if you find the flavor too intense,
• 150 grams of butter
• 3 slices of 1 cm of Snijkoek or pain d'epice in french, Lebkuchen, Hönigkuchen or Pfefferkuchen in german.
• 2 - 3 Tbspn of good oil

Preparation

1Melt the butter in the pan and add some oil to raise the heating point. SPice the meat with a little pepper and salt. Fry the beef dusted in flour in the pan untill brown on all sides and cook for another 10 minutes.

2Add the beef stock and the beer. Cook for another 10 minutes. Add the onions, snijkoek, bay leaves, cloves.

3Important cook gently for at least 4 - 5 hours until the mixture is reduced and has formed a thick sauce. If too liquid wait, be patient and let it reduce further. A perfect dish to make a day in advance. Serve with long grain rice, pasta or delicous fresh made potatoe puree.Smakelijk eten!

When you cook this in a sousvide machine:Follow the recipe until step 2 then put it in the sousvide machine and let it slow cook for 12 - 18 hours at 75 or 80 degrees. For a more healthy option leave the butter out. Take beef with a little less fat. Leave out the beer and ginger bread. Instead aa a little of chili, use oats instead of the pain de epice. Cut the onions in chunks (Will get soft after around 15 hours). Maigc tip at the begining make a balsamico reduction with the onions. Gets you this onion sweetness with layered acidity of the Balsamico.