Venison stew with Gouden Carolus & gingerbread

For ➍ 

1 kg venison stewing meat 

1 clove of garlic 

1 large onion 

2 bay leaves 

450 g pre-cooked baby potatoes 

1 tsp dried rosemary 

3 cloves 

2 slices of gingerbread with ginger 

2 tbs mustard 

1 tbs Liège syrup 

3.8 dl game stock 

7.5 dl Gouden Carolus beer 

1 tbs flour 

3 tbs butter 

pepper 

Place a roasting pan or heavy-bottomed pot on the heat, let it get hot, and melt a spoonful of butter in it. Season the meat with pepper and salt, then brown the venison pieces on all sides in the hot butter. It is best to do this in batches to ensure the meat sears properly. The meat does not need to be fully cooked through, as it will finish cooking during the stewing process.

Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Place a pan on the heat with a spoonful of butter and sauté the onion and garlic. Sprinkle with the flour and add the browned venison pieces. Stir briefly, then immediately deglaze with the game stock and the Gouden Carolus beer. Add the bay leaves, cloves, and Liège syrup. 

Cut 2 slices of gingerbread and spread them with mustard. Place the gingerbread—mustard side down—on top of the stew and bring to a boil. 

Reduce the heat, cover the pot with a lid, and let the meat cook for 2 to 2½ h until tender. Preheat the oven to 200°C. 

Rinse the baby potatoes and spread them evenly in a baking dish. Dot with a few knobs of butter. Season with salt, pepper, and dried rosemary, then roast in the oven for approximately 30 m until golden brown. Serve the roasted baby potatoes with the venison stew.

Lemon tart with goat yogurt & speculaas

For ➑
6 gelatin sheets
150 g speculaas / gingerbread
150 g pecans
1 tbs lemon zest
80 g butter
lemon juice from ½ lemon
1 l goat yogurt
200 g lemon jam or lemon marmalade

Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for 10 m.
Put the biscuits in a bowl and grind finely with a mixer or mortar. Do the same with the pecans. Combine gingerbread and nuts. Add 1 tbs of lemon zest and toss again.
Melt the butter in the saucepan and add the speculaas & nut mixture. Stir together.
Place baking paper on the bottom of the baking tin. Grease or spray the baking rim with butter and stick a strip of baking paper against it. Spoon in the gingerbread nut bottom and press evenly.
Put the lemon juice in a saucepan and place the gelatin leaves in it. Heat this on low heat and let the gelatin leaves dissolve.
Now stir the mixture into the goat yogurt. Stir well and pour this mixture into the pie tin.
Leave to set in the refrigerator for at least 2 h.
Take the tart out of the fridge and spoon the lemon jam or lemon marmalade on it.
Serve for breakfast or as a fresh snack

Potatoes clafoutis

For ➍
500 g potatoes
2 apples
2 slices gingerbread
breadcrumbs
butter
3 eggs
4 tbs cream
pepper & salt
nutmeg
cinnamon

Cut the potatoes and apples into slices. Cut the gingerbread into cubes. Mix potato, apple and gingerbread with salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon.
Divide the mixture into a buttered baking dish and cover it with a mixture of 3 eggs and 4 tbs of cream.
Sprinkle crumbled bread crumbs and butter flakes and cook the dish for 1 h in a 150 °C preheated oven.

Poulet braisé à la gueuze (braised chicken with old Brussels gueuze)

For ➍
a farm chicken (600 g)
4 onions, chopped
4 slices smoked bacon (0.5 cm thick), cubed
2 bottles of gueuze 37.5 cl
2 slices of gingerbread spread with spicy mustard
a large knob of butter
1 tbs flour
fresh thyme, parsley & fresh bay
500 g waxy potatoes*
watercress

With a sharp knife cut the chicken. Remove the tighs and cut them in 2. Remove chicken breast from the rest of the carcass and divide into 4 large pieces.**
Put a large casserole over medium heat. Melt butter. Add the breasts and tighs. Season with salt and pepper. Fry them on all sides golden brown (5 to 7 m). Lift the chicken from the pot and keep warm.
In the same pot, brown the onions. Add the bacon. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and bacon. Just stir and simmer about 5 m on medium heat.
Make a bouquet garni of parsley, bay leaves and some sprigs of thyme. Place the chicken and its' gravy back into the pot with the bouquet garni. Pour over the gueuze, enough not to cover the chicken.
Spread a generous layer of spicy mustard on the gingerbread . Add to the stew. Simmer for 30 m on low heat. Add salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, boil the potatoes (cut as pommes château) in water with a pinch of salt.
Serve with sauce and potatoes. Garnish with some cress.*

*Or serve with a potatoes & carrots mash and braised endives. Omit the watercress.
**The carcass and the wings can be used to make good stock.