Oktoberfest!

At least 600km north-west of München, one tiny kitchen is belatedly helping the Bavarians celebrate Oktoberfest. Inspired by television clips of thousands of beer-drinkers dressed in dirndl and lederhosen, we've decided to do our thing for German breweries and pour the stuff straight into our main meal.

This dish, adapted from a Belgian braise, has a lovely malty quality, I think. We've used König Pilsener, a light coloured beer brewed in close-by Duisburg in accordance of course with the German Purity Law of 1516. The kitchen smelled amazingly warm and welcoming with this stew in the oven but it does take a hardy stomach to open up a bottle of beer early in the morning. Luckily, I am just the girl for this job.


Beef and Leeks Braised in König Pilsner (adapted from Julia Child)
serves 4
1kg piece of lean beef, cubed
2 Tablespoons olive oil
4 cups leek, finely sliced
salt and pepper
4 cloves garlic, mashed
1 cup beef stock
1 cup Pilsner
2 Tbs brown sugar
3 bay leaves
5 Tbs parsley, chopped
1 Tbs cornstarch
2 Tbs white vinegar

Heat the oven to 150 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a pan and brown the beef in batches. Set aside. Reduce the heat and fry the leek lightly for about 10 minutes, stirring. Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper and add the garlic. Arrange the beef on the bottom of a casserole, season with salt and pepper and arrange the leeks over the top.
Heat up the stock in the original beef frying pan, scraping up the cooking juices and add the sugar. Pour this mix over the beef and leek and pour in the pilsner so that the leek is just covered. Add the bay leaves and parsley and bring to a simmer on the stove. Now cover and place in the oven and cook slowly for 2 and a half hours.
Blend the cornstarch together with the white vinegar. Remove the bay leaves from stew, drain the cooking liquid and pour into a small smallpan. Add the cornstarch and vinegar mix and simmer for 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour back into the meat.
Cover the casserole and slowly simmer on the stove. Serve with potatoes and more beer.