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Writer's picturecindyryb

Instant Pot Carbonnade a la Flamande - Beef & Guinness Stew


Don't feel bad - I wouldn't have known that it was basically Beef & Guinness Stew either until I read the recipe! I was really nervous about trying to make my first "non-Instant Pot" recipe in the Instant Pot, but I can tell you that it was easy enough to modify.


This began from a recipe we first found off of Viking Cruise Line's website - Carbonnade a la Flamande. They post some of the recipes they make on their ships, and this one is excellent! From their original recipe, I made a few adjustments when I cooked it the first time on the stovetop (mostly because I couldn't find an Oud Bruin Style Beer from Belgium and because I didn't have beef demi-glace). The next picture shows the version of the recipe that I modified for cooking in the oven. It's time consuming to make in a dutch oven on the stovetop - it cooks for about two hours after it's all assembled (with the browning of the meet, the cooking of the vegetables, and the cooking of the start of the liquid base, it's probably closer to three hours total).


Instant Pot to the rescue... now that I have one and know what the excitement was with friends that had them, I don't know how I cooked without it!


So my goal was to make the recipe completely in my Instant Pot. I was a little nervous because there is a bottle of Guinness Extra Stout Beer in it - I wasn't quite sure of how a pressure cooker would do with it. I had scary images of a frothy mess leaking out - not to worry! I started searching around on the Internet for Instant Pot Guinness Stew and saw that most recipes do something similar with the beer - you cook it into the liquid for 20 minutes prior to pressurizing your Instant Pot and then cooking the stew for 30 minutes more.


I made some minor changes this time when I made the recipe that worked out great -

  • Rather than putting potatoes in it, I served it over egg noodles - nice change!

  • I had a little less than 3 pounds of meat, so I used about 4 tbsp flour for the dredge.

  • Because I was making more meat (with the plan of the two of us having it for dinner tonight and then freezing four more portions), I used a pound of California carrots instead of the 4 carrots my recipe said to use. I also used a 12 ounce package of fresh mushrooms. Everything else was the same - again, I skipped the optional cider vinegar as it tasted great without it.

  • No doubt about it - it could use more carrots and mushrooms, so I'll probably double up on both next time I make it.


Don't fear modifying your existing good recipes into Instant Pot recipes - just do some searching out there for an Instant Pot recipe for what you want to make (or something similar) and you'll see how long to cook what you are making. I definitely think cooking this in the Instant Pot made the meat turn out much better - fork tender and delicious.


Here's a suggestion: the first time I made this, I went to Publix and got a couple pound chuck roast. It was a pain cutting it up myself into 2" pieces. It turns out that if you ask, Publix will cut it up for you - what a time saver!


All in all, my original roughly three hour recipe was done in less than half the time. Once it finished the 30 minutes on pressurize, I let the pressure release on its own. It continued keeping the meal warm until I was ready with the noodles.


Here are my other Instant Pot posts with recipes, links to places to find recipes, and information about selecting an Instant Pot (I chose the 8 Quart Instant Pot Duo Crisp 11-in-1 because it included an air fryer and I knew it would be large enough to make multiple portion meals; my goal was to have a meal one night and then freeze two to four more portions):


Please share recipes that you like - I'd love to post your suggestions for others to enjoy. Follow along at www.leesburg4rent.com/blog for more Instant Pot tips plus information about what's happening here in Lake County, Florida. Enjoy the weekend - if you're looking for a fun weekend activity, check out our post Things to Do on Valentine's Weekend in Lake County, Florida - it also contains a link to ideas of what you might want to do on Valentine's Day!




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