Beer Recipes

Abbey duck

For two persons

Ingredients

1 duck fillet or two according to your appetite
50 gr of Herve cheese
15 to 20 cl Belgian Abbey beer -
(the Westmalle Double will do just fine)
100 ml of fresh cream
Salt and pepper.

Preparation

Score the duck skin and pan-fry for 8 min. in a pan with butter and a bit of oil. At first on a hot fire, then reduce the fire. Pay close attention to the colour of the surface.
Pour away any excess fat and pan-fry for 5 more min. on the meat side.
Pour the beer into a casserole, add the cheese and let it melt over mild heat.
Add the cream and cook for 5 more min.
Cut the duck into thin slices, put them on the plate and top with sauce.
Serve with braised chicory or cooked carrots according to your preference. Boiled potatoes or potato croquettes complete this delicate and simple dish.

Belgian endive rolls with Chimay from the boot of Hainaut

For two persons

Ingredients

Two beautiful Belgian endive heads
5 cl of Belgian endive cooking juice
2 slices of ham
4 slices of Chimay beer cheese
1 clove of garlic
1 shallot
1 small onion
10 cl of poultry stock
25 g of butter
1 tablespoon of flour
15 cl of Chimay Blanche (Triple)
2 tablespoons of Maïzena (cornflour)
50 g of grated Swiss Gruyère cheese
Salt, pepper, nutmeg
Thyme and laurel

Preparation

Cook and braise the Belgian endive in the butter. Then add the chopped garlic and a touch of nutmeg.
Preparation of the sauce:
Chop the shallot and the onion. Fry them lightly in a knob of butter.
Add the flour and mix. Add a laurel leaf and a sprig of thyme. Season with salt and pepper.
Pour the Chimay and bring to the boil.
Pour the stock and the cooking juice into the sauce.
Let it simmer gently for 5 minutes.
Thicken the sauce with the Maïzena and adjust the seasoning.
Put two slices of cheese on every slice of ham. Season lightly with nutmeg.
Roll the Belgian endive in the cheese and ham.
Place in an ovenproof casserole and cover with the beer sauce.
Sprinkle with the grated Swiss Gruyère cheese
Place the casserole in a preheated oven at 200°C and brown for about 20 min.
Serve with mashed potatoes or . place boiled potatoes next to the rolls before putting the casserole in the oven.

Tournai style rabbit

Rabbit with prunes is a religious custom in Tournai. It is served on the Monday after the Epiphany.

Ingredients

1 rabbit
4 onions
2 spoons of flour
12 prunes
a bit of butter or baking oil
1 liter of beer
A laurel leaf and a sprig of thyme

Preparation

Cut the rabbit in pieces: the legs and the back in three pieces.
Heat a casserole with the butter and the baking oil, put the pieces in it and brown them.
Remove the pieces from the casserole, lower the fire a little, and lightly fry the chopped onions. Then add a big spoon of flour and mix very quickly.
Drizzle with beer.
Put the pieces back, add the rest of the beer so the ingredients are completely covered.
Add salt and pepper (to taste), laurel and thyme.
Stir every now and then with a wooden spoon so the meat won't stick to the bottom.
You can let it simmer for hours; it will only get better.
If necessary, wet again.
Add the prunes with their stones thirty minutes before the cooking is finished. Mix them gently with the pieces of rabbit.
Serve with fries and a fine Belgian beer of your choice.

The doubles of Binche (pancakes for two people!)

For two persons

Ingredients

500 gr of buckwheat flour
500 gr of white flour
one big bottle (75 cl) of Binchoise blonde heated 'au bain-marie'
a liter of lukewarm water
one tablespoon of salt
5 dashes of pepper
100 gr of yeast
one tablespoon of groundnut oil
Herve cheese or Boulette

Preparation

Thoroughly mix the flours, the Binchoise, the water, the salt and the pepper.
Add the dissolved yeast and the groundnut oil to the lukewarm water.
Let it double in volume.
Make small and fine pancakes, fill them with the cheese.
Reheat and serve with a knob of butter.