♥︎Turkey stew with Oude Geuze

For ➍

300 g fresh pearl onions

a large knob of butter*

300 g smoked bacon**

2 cloves of garlic

250 g mushrooms

2 stalks celery

1 kg turkey leg (turkey cubes from breast or leg)

3 tbs  flour

3 dl Oude Geuze Boon

40 cl chicken stock*

2 tbs grain mustard

some sprigs of sage

a few sprigs of thyme

4 bay leaves

3 cloves

1 bunch of (young) carrots

pepper & salt

a few sprigs of fresh thyme

800 g pine cones potatoes***

a dash of cream****

Preheat the deep fryer to 170 °C.***

First soak the fresh pearl onions in a bowl of hot water and remove the outer skin of the onions.

Melt a large knob of butter* in a large stew. Cut the bacon into strips and stew. Peel and crush the garlic and add, followed by the pearl onions. Cut the mushrooms into pieces and stew them. Rinse the celery under cold water, finely chop the stalks and stew. Season the turkey cubes with salt and pepper. Stew them and sprinkle some flour over them. Stir well so that the flour is evenly distributed over all the turkey pieces and vegetables. Pour the Oude Geuze and the chicken stock into the stew. Add the mustard. Make a herb bouquet from the sage, thyme and bay leaf and add it together with the cloves. Place a lid on the pot and turn the heat down. Let the stew simmer gently for at least 1 h. 

About 20 m before dinner time, peel the carrots and put them in a pot over a gentle heat with a good splash of water and a good knob of butter. Season the carrots with salt and pepper and some finely chopped fresh thyme. Cook for 10 to 15 m under a lid. In the meantime, fry the pine cones until golden brown in the deep fryer at 170 °C. 

Season the stew with a little extra salt and pepper. *****  

Add the pasta in small pieces to your sauce and let it melt. 

Finish the stew with a dash of cream. ****

Spoon some turkey with sauce onto a plate and add the fried carrots and pine cones***.

*replace with vegan

**replace with smoked turkey meat

***replace with heart-friendly alternative

****optional

*****If necessary, add some beurre manié to thicken the sauce by kneading 1 tbs flour  into a paste with a knob of butter*.

Faisan à la gueuze et mousse de poireaux (pheasant with gueuze & leeks mousse)

For ➍
2 pheasants 700 g
4 tbs olive oil
40 g butter
15 cl cream
250 g fresh walnuts
5 cl gin
25 cl gueuze
salt, pepper
leek mousse

Blanch the nuts to remove the skin.
Clear the skin of the pheasant near the head and insert a finger to lift the skin up to the thigh. Push a little cream between the skin and the meat. Rub gently to spread the cream and close with a toothpick. Put a knob of salted butter in the belly and close with a toothpick.
Bind the legs, rub oil on the pheasants. Sauté in a pan with a little oil.
When pheasants are browned add the nuts and mix. Heat gin and blaze the pheasants.
Pour the gueuze over the fowl. Cook covered over low heat for 30 m.
Reduce the cooking juices and whisk in the butter.
Cut the white meat of the pheasants into 2 mm slices.
To serve, put leeks mousse on a plate, pour a little of the leek cooking juices around it. Put some slices of the pheasant on the mousse.
Pour the pheasants' sauce on the meat. Decorate with nuts.
In second service serve pheasant thighs with fried mushrooms with garlic and a little green salad.

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.

Lamsstoofpot met geuze (Flemish lamb stew with gueuze)

For ➍
1.5 kg lamb shoulder (boneless)
butter
salt & pepper
2 onions
1 clove garlic
2 tbs flour
75 cl traditional Belgian gueuze
bouquet garni
4 carrots
4 turnips*
500 g potatoes
6 endives
150 g pickled onion
1 tbs powdered sugar
1 tbs chives, finely chopped

Cut the lamb into strips. Brown in butter. Season with salt and pepper. Cut onions finely, sauté with garlic. Sprinkle with flour, add to the meat. Add beer and bouquet garni. Bring to a boil and simmer for 70 m on low heat.
Dice carrots, turnips, potatoes and endives. Peel the pickled onion. Caramelise all vegetables in butter and sugar. Add to the meat. Cook for another 15 m. Season to taste and remove bouquet from the pan. Sprinkle with chopped chives..
Serve with winter vegetables like celery and potatoes.

*Replace with parsnips.