Recipe of the Week: Oma's Ragout

Why Oma’s Ragout? Oma in Dutch means Grandmother, and this is the recipe for her famous ragout (a meat and béchamel like stew).

This recipe is a present for my uncle Jeroen and aunt Anca who both turn a fabulous 50 today.

I believe at this milestone, you both have the wisdom and skills to make it yourselves and share it with your own families. Enjoy and Happy 50th Birthday!

For everyone else this is a simple winter meal that is easy to make and is ever so yummy. It is quite old fashioned in its simpleness, which is why I think our family loves it so much- perfect comfort food!

Eat it on toast (the way my family does) with hot mustard, or serve it with rice or potatoes and vegetables.


Ingredients

500g Chuck or Blade Steak
1 onion
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon of black pepper corns

40g butter
30g plain flour (you may need a little more of less depending)
1 white onion finely chopped
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg freshly ground
Salt
Pepper

Method
Place the steak, whole onion (unpeeled), carrot and celery bay leaf and peppercorns in a large pot. Add enough cold water to cover the meat and vegetables. Allow to simmer for 1-2 hours until you have a rich coloured stock and the steak falls apart.

Drain and reserve the liquid. Keep the meat and discard the carrot, celery, onion, bay leaf and peppercorns.

In the meantime place the butter in a saucepan and slowly melt. When the butter starts to bubble add the chopped onion and stir until your onions look see through.Turn the heat down and add the flour. Continue to stir until this mixture becomes stiff. If it appears a little soft and continues to run in the pan add a little more flour and stir thoroughly- this is your roux. Cook this mixture out for 1 minute while continuing to stir.

With your saucepan on a medium heat add the stock 100 mills at a time to the roux and whisk until the mixture becomes a thick paste. Continue to add the stock in small amounts- this will help avoid any lumps.

Once your sauce is thick and resembles a cheese sauce consistency stop adding any more liquid and allow your mixture to come to the bubble. This will indicate how thick your sauce will be, while cooking out the flour. If you think it is too thick add a little more stock or water and allow the sauce so bubble again. Be careful though as you can always make the mixture thinner but you cannot make it thicker.

Take this sauce off the heat and in the meantime cut the steak into small cubes. Add your meat to the sauce and stir. Season with salt pepper, nutmeg and mustard powder.

Serves 4 as a main.

Bon Appetite.