Carbonnade a la Flamande (Belgian Beef, Beer, and Onion Stew)

Name: Carbonnade a la Flamande (Belgian Beef, Beer, and Onion Stew)
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 3 1/2 pounds, blade steaks, 1-inch-thick, trimmed of gristle and fat and cut into 1-inch pieces (see illustrations below); 1½ teaspoons, table salt; 1 teaspoon, pepper; 3 tablespoons, vegetable oil; 2 pounds, yellow onions (about 3 medium), halved and sliced about 1/4-inch-thick (about 8 cups); 1 tablespoon, tomato paste; 2 medium cloves, garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons); 3 tablespoons, all-purpose flour; 3/4 cup, low-sodium chicken broth; 3/4 cup, low-sodium beef broth; 1 1/2 cups, beer (12-ounce bottle or can); 4 sprigs, fresh thyme leaves, tied with kitchen twine; 2 , bay leaves; 1 tablespoon, cider vinegar

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Appears in Cook's Illustrated November/December 2004, America's Test Kitchen TV

SERVES6

TIME3½ hours

has video

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

In a good carbonnade recipe, the heartiness of the beef should meld with the soft sweetness of sliced onions in a lightly thickened broth laced with the malty flavor of beer. Our tests revealed that the small, long, shoulder-cut blade steak...

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