Render half of salt pork. Cut beef into 2 inch/ 5 cm chunks and brown in pork fat.
Saute onions in butter until transparent and lightly colored.
Combine in a 4 quart casserole. Pour liquid from meat into a measuring cup.
Remove the grease, then add enough beef stock to make one cup/2,5 dl.
Render the balance of the salt pork and add flour to make a roux.
Add stock and drippings and whisk and bring to a boil.
Add beer and bring to a boil again.
When the mixture is thick and smooth, add the garlic, vinegar, sugar, thyme, and bay leaf.
Pour it over the meat and onion mixture and add salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil, then transfer it to a heavy covered casserole and bake it for two hours at 325°F/160°C.
Before serving, sprinkle heavily with chopped parsley.
Serve with plain boiled potatoes.

  

Trim excess fat from the chops, season with salt and pepper and brown very gently on both sides in 50 g – 1,75 oz. butter for 10-15 minutes.

Put the browned, half-cooked chops in a shallow casserole, sprinkle them with the lemon juice, add the parsley, juniper berries, and rosemary, and season with salt and pepper.

Arrange the peeled and sliced apples over the chops and pour the melted butter over them.

Cover and cook in a medium to hot oven for 30-35 minutes or until the chops are cooked.

Serve directly from the casserole.

Makes 4 servings.

Source: A Taste of the Belgian Provinces, Enid Gordon and Midge Shirley (published by The Tuesday Group, rue Frans Merjay, 1060 Brussels).

  

FOR THE PASTRY

First make the pastry: sieve the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Put in the butter cut in small pieces, the egg and a good pinch of salt. Work quickly together with the fingertips, then add just enough water to make the dough moist. Shape the dough into a ball, put it on a floured board and flatten it with the heel of your hand. Then shape it into a ball once more and repeat the process. Finally, shape it again, wrap it in greaseproof paper and put it in a cool place for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to a moderately hot temperature. Peel and core the apples and slice them thinly; drain the canned chestnuts and chop them up roughly. In a bowl, mix thoroughly but delicately the minced pork, the apples, the chestnuts, the port, and one egg. Season with salt and plenty of fresh-ground black pepper.

Break the second egg into a small bowl and beat it lightly with a fork. Butter the pie dish. Roll out two-thirds of the dough into a round shape about 5 mm thick and slightly larger in diameter than the pie dish, and line the dish with it, pricking the bottom with a fork. Spread the filling into this. Roll out the remaining dough in a round shape with the same diameter as the pie dish and cover the pie with it, pinching the pastry edges together. With a pastry brush dipped in the beaten egg, paint the whole surface of the pie and make a couple of long incisions in it to let the air in. Cook the tourte in a moderately hot oven for 45 minutes and serve hot.

Makes 4 servings.

Source: A Taste of the Belgian Provinces, Enid Gordon and Midge Shirley (published by The Tuesday Group, rue Frans Merjay, 1060 Brussels).

  

Heat the butter in a casserole with a thick bottom and fry the onions until they have browned (about 7 minutes). Heat the oil in another pan and brown the meat.

Transfer the meat to the casserole with the onions. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir for about 3 minutes.

Then pour in the wine and porto (2/3 wine-2/3 porto) so that the meat is just covered. Stir continuously untill the sauce has thickened. Add salt, pepper, 2 cloves mashed garlic, the lemon peel and the piece of cinnamon bark.

Simmer for one hour.

Then add the dried prunes and simmer 45 minutes more. Remove the lemon peel and the cinnamon bark, check seasonings and serve.

I am not sure abouth the amount of flour. But if the sauce is too thin, you can always add a portion of butter mixed with an equal amount of flour. Stir well when you add it.

Makes 4 servings.

Source: my collection.

  

The devil may know where the name filet am?ricain (as we call it in Dutch) comes from. Americans seem to be horrified to eat raw red meat. But everybody in our country loves it. As a course “am?ricain” is served with a salad and french fries (belgian fries!), but frequently the meat is served with bread or toast and then it is called “Toast Cannibale”.

Mince the meat with a mincing-machine, or still better : mince it with a big, sharp knife.

Put the meat in a bowl and mix with all the other ingredients. Use a lot of pepper. Make 4 portions and serve them cold and raw.

Makes 4 servings.

Source: Dirk De Prins en Nest Mertens: “De Belgische Keuken”, Standaard Uitgeverij, Antwerpen 1995.

  

1 tablespoon butter
12 oz boneless lean center loin pork
9 oz fresh pork fat cut from loin, fresh
3 medium eggs
6 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup tawny port
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
2 1/2 tablespoon currants, minced
9 feet sausage casings, rinsed inside
1/4 cup butter

Bring milk, onions, carrots, celery, parsley, 3 shallots, garlic clove, bay leaves, salt, cloves, pepper, nutmeg and thyme just to boil in heavy 4-quart saucepan over medium heat. Remove from het, cover and let stand 30 minutes. Refrigerate until mixture is well chilled, about 2 hours.

Meanwhile, melt 1 Tbsp butter in heavy small skillet over low heat. Add remaining 4 minced shallots. Cover and cook until very soft, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Puree with on/off turns in processor with pork, pork fat, eggs, flour, Port and 1/4 tsp garlic until smooth. Strain milk into processor, pressing down on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Blend into puree. Transfer to large bowl. Stir in currants. Refrigerate 1 to 8 hours. (If processor has small capacity, puree in batches.)

Cut sausage casings into 3-foot lengths. Tie knot at one end of each. Gather 1 piece around tip of pastry bag fitted with 1/2-inch plain tip. Spoon pork mixture into pastry bag, pressing down to prevent air pockets. Pipe mixture into casing, twisting casing every 6 inches to create individual sausages. Tie know at end of casing. Repeat with remaining pork and casings. Tie twists in sausage with string.

Bring 8 quarts water to boil in stockpot. Remove from heat and add sausages. Return pot to heat, adjusting as necessary to maintain water just below simmer (180 F). Cook until sausages are firm to touch, 20 minutes, turning occasionally. Cool in cold water to retain plumpness. Cut into individual links. (Can be prepared ahead to this point. Wrap and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 months.)

Melt butter in heavy skillet over medium heat. Lightly brown sausages on all sides, about 8 minutes total. Serve hot. (Sausage can also be grilled.)

Source: my collection

  

To prepare meatballs, soak bread crumbs in milk until thoroughly moistened; squeeze dry with hands. Combine bread crumbs, ground meats, eggs, shallots, parsley, salt, pepper and nutmeg in medium bowl. Form mixture into 6 to 8 balls or patties (2 inches in diameter and 1/2-inch thick); dust with 2 tablespoons flour.

Heat butter and oil in deep, heavy Dutch oven, until hot but not smoking, over high heat. Add meatballs; cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes, making sure butter does not burn. Remove meat balls to platter; keep warm.

To prepare sauce, discard all but 2 tablespoons of fat in pan. Add onion and endives. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes. Add sugar, salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons flour to vegetables; cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes longer. Add beer and broth; heat to quick boil, scraping up all brown bits from bottom of pan.

Reduce heat to simmer; return meatballs to pan, placing them on top of vegetables. Simmer, partly covered, until meat is cooked through, 45 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

4 servings.

Source: Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook by Ruth Van Warebeeck; printed in the Chicago Tribune, October 2, 1996

  

This recipe originates in Flanders where Savoy cabbage is much loved. The stock is made into a quick pea soup and served as a first course. It is similar to the French Pot au Feu although the former has peas and the latter garlic and leeks.

Cover the beef, pork, pork bone, bay leaves and peppercorns in water in a large pot and bring to a simmer. Skim the foam away and cover; simmer 2 1/2-3 hrs until the meats are tender. Add the salt during the last hour.

Prepare and reserve the vegetables. Wash the potatoes; do not peel if new. Wash, trim, core and cut the cabbage into 8 wedges. Peel and quarter the turnips. About 30 min before the meat is done add the potatoes and turnips. Remove the meats and vegetables from the broth; arrange the vegetables around the meat on a large platter, cover with foil and keep warm. Discard the pork bone.

Strain the broth through cheesecloth and reserve 2 cups for the pea soup, returning the rest to the pot to cook the cabbage in. Simmer the cabbage 5-7 min until tender and remove; arrange on the meat platter.

Meanwhile cook the peas in a separate smaller pot; puree in a blender with the reserved broth in small lots until smooth. Strain through a wire sieve discarding the pulp. Re-heat and serve as a first course garnished with croutons and chives. Then bring the hot platter to the table; slice meat and serve with mustard and horseradish.

To adapt to a crockpot I would suggest [but have not tested] about 10-12 hrs on low for the meats, perhaps 4 hrs for the potatoes and turnips and do the cabbage with the meats and vegetables say the last 30 min. Do the peas separately on the stove at the last minute.

Remarks:
8 servings.

Source: Adapted from a recipe in the Sunset Cook Book for Soups and Stews by Jim Weller – Intercook

  

Cut the rabbit into serving pieces and season with salt and pepper.

Heat the lard in a casserole and fry the onions until golden. Add the rabbit and brown it at all sides. Sprinkle the flour over the rabbit. Mix well and pour the beer over it – the meat should be covered. Add the brown sugar and a pinch of nutmeg. Cover the casserole and let the rabbit simmer for 1 hour.

In the meantime, remove the stones from the cherries and add them to the rabbit 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time.

Season to taste and add the eau de vie. Serve with baked potatoes.

Makes 4 servings.
Source: my collection

  

Mince the juniper berries, mix with the basil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper. Rub into the pork chops.
Heat some butter and brown the chops very carefully on both sides. Make sure that the herb mixture stays on the meat. Transfer the chops to a crockpot.

Colour the onion and carrot in the same butter, add the wine and reduce to half. Add stock and pour everything over the meat.

Fry breadcrumbs in the remaining butter and mix with ham, parsley and some lemon juice. Put this mixture on top of the meat. Cover crockpot, put in a cold oven, set temperature at 400 °F and bake for 1 hour.

Remove chops. Pour remaining liquid in a small pan and reduce to 1/2 cup over high heat. Put the chops back into the crockpot and pour the sauce over them.

Makes 4 servings.
Source: my collection