The following is a recipe created by the mother of everyone's favorite CCB Belgian, Sebastien. Seabass (as we mostly call him) invited my wife and me over to sample some of his mother's Belgian culinary skills and I am not embellishing in the slightest when I say it was one of the best meals I've ever had. From the simply, yet scrumptiously, prepared white aspargus to the main course and on to dessert, every bite was better than the one that proceeded it. Sebastien's mother was kind enough to pass on the recipe for the main dish and I in turn pass it on to you. It's an incredibly tasty dish the key to which is letting it sit and absorbing the juices from the sauce and then reheating. Bon appetit!

Carbonade à la Big Sound Scotch Ale 

For 5-6 guests

• 5 lbs beef stew
• 3 big onions
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon of thyme
• Mustard (preferably Dijon)
• 4 – 5 slices of baguette
• Black pepper
• 2-3 cubes of Maggi chicken (or beef) flavor bouillon.
• 1 bottle of Big Sound Scotch Ale
• Extra * 2 table spoon of cane sugar *
• Leaf parsley (garnish)

1) Cut the meat into cubes (not too small), add oil to a pot and brown the meat. If the quantity is large you might want to do this process in 2 steps. You don’t want to cook the meat, just brown the outside. Stir until all cubes are browned. (drain the excess water of the meat if necessary).

2) Once the meat is ready, set it aside.

3) In the pot used to brown the meat, add the 3 chopped onions, until they are browned.

4) Add the meat back to the pot, the beer, the bay leaves, the thyme, black pepper, and 2-3 cubes of Maggi bouillon. Coat the 4-5 slices of baguette with mustard, add them to the pot. Add the extra cane sugar.

5) Bring to a quick boil, then simmer on medium (depending of your setting) for about 2-3 hours while stirring every now and then.  (check with a knife that the meat is soft).

6) Reheat 1 or 2 days later for enhanced flavor as the meat got time to soak up all the flavors from the sauce.

Serve with either pomme frites or boiled potatoes. Sprinkle with some freshly cut parsley.

We got our meat at Whole Foods, and it was top notch quality.