Serge Driesen is a member of the ‘33 Master Chefs of Belgium’ and of the ‘Disciples of Escoffier’. In his ‘t Vrouwenhuys, located in the estate of the Corsendonk Priory, this jovial chef serves up gastronomic fare based on quality Belgian products. Naturally Driesen cooks with Corsendonk beers, but he also looks beyond the Priory’s walls. "We should not only be proud of our national drink", he feels, "we should also give it the attention it deserves on our tables". Driesen goes on to say, "Using beer in the kitchen calls for practice and experimentation, but I can assure you of one thing. If you drink wine with a dish in which beer has been used correctly, then it should jolly well be a good brand. If not it will be nowhere near as good as the beer, certainly as far as subtlety is concerned! Beer is like a little angel splashing on your tongue".

BAKED PARTRIDGE WITH STUFFED MUSHROOMS AND A
CORSENDONK® ABBEY BROWN SAUCE

Ingredients 4 small partridges pepper and salt 2 sprigs of fresh thyme 2 finely chopped shallots 4 crushed juniper berries 1-12 oz. bottle of Corsendonk® Brown 2.5 dl of veal gravy knobs of ice-cold butter 4 large mushrooms half a blood sausage (75 grams) finely chopped parsley breadcrumbs 4 sweet-pastry biscuits 150 g mixture of stewed egg, red pepper and courgette Dauphine potatoes Serves 4

Preparation Pan-fry the partridges in a little butter in a pan. Season with pepper and salt and add the thyme, shallots and juniper berries. Place in a hot oven, 425°F, and bake for 20 minutes. While baking, prepare the stuffed mushrooms. Remove the stems and stew the heads in a little butter. Finely crush the blood sausage and mix with the parsley. Stuff mushrooms with this mixture and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Briefly place under the broiler. Just before the cooking time is up, slake partridges with the bottle of Corsendonk® and add the veal gravy. Take partridges out of the oven and remove from the pan. Strain off the cooking juice through a fine sieve and stiffen the sauce with knobs of butter. Cut partridges in two and arrange the halves over the stewed vegetables on four pre-heated plates. Spoon sauce over and around them and finish with the stuffed mushrooms, warm sweet-pastry biscuits, and Dauphine potatoes. Decorate with a sprig of lavender and coarse chervil. Enjoy with Corsendonk® Abbey Brown Ale.