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I thought I had posted this recipe over here before, but I guess not. With the new year upon us, and some queries about what to do with a ham bone, I thought I'd better post it up.
Literally translated "Stew with feet of the pig"
I often use a small smoked shoulder rather than hocks or feet
This is a traditional French Canadian holiday stew familiar to people here in New England, probably not so elsewhere. Pure comfort food.
Ragoût:
2 cups all purpose flour, browned...(technique follows)
4 pigs's feet or ham hocks
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
2 pounds meatballs (recipe follows)
1 large onion studded with 8 or 9 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Water, or chicken stock to cover by 2 inches.
MEATBALLS:
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1 onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 pinch nutmeg
salt and pepper
2 slices of bread, soaked in milk and squeezed dry
1 egg, beaten
TO BROWN THE FLOUR:
Turn the oven to it's highest setting, and place rack in the middle.
Place flour in an oven-proof skillet, place in oven 4-6 minutes , then stir.
Repeat this process watching carefully so it doesn't burn, 4-6 times, stirring each time until the flour is a light caramel color. Remove from oven and reserve.
MEATBALLS:
Mix the meatball ingredients and make balls about 1 inch in diameter. place on a sheet pan and bake 15 minutes at 350°
RAGOUT:
In a large Dutch oven, place the ham hocks, studded onion, bay leaves and salt and pepper. Cover with chicken broth or water by two inches and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until meat is tender. Remove from heat and let meat cool. Discard the skin and fat from the hocks and pull the meat off in chunks. Remove as much fat as possible from the broth.
Return the pork to Dutch oven , add chicken and meatballs and bring to a boil. Make sure the meat is covered with broth (add stock if necessary) and reduce heat to simmer.
Mix the browned flour with cold water a bit at a time, until a thick paste has formed.
Place one large spoonful at a time into the pot and stir until desired thickness is obtained.
Serve over hot boiled potatoes.
This dish, like so many others evolved from leftovers from the holiday celebrations..it seems much of peasant food did come into being that way.
Since I had no leftover chicken, I put a fryer into the pot with some bay leaves, onion, peppercorns and salt and let it simmer until it fell off the bone.
It was then time to turn my attention to the meatballs...I used a lovely pork, veal and beef mix they had at my local market. The pork shoulder also went into the pot when the chicken came out.
When I tossed the shoulder in to simmer, I also put in an onion that was well-studded with whole cloves...simmered until it was ready to pull.
[[url=https://postimages.org/]
While that was simmering, I soaked some bread in milk, measured out the rest of the ingredients for the meatballs, and got to work. I like to add the spices to the egg before it goes into the meat mixture...I feel it gets a little better distribution that way.
Then mix it all up and make the meatballs
Into a 350°F oven they go, for about 15 minutes...just want to brown them..they will finish cooking with the other meats.
It was at this point, when I took them out of the oven that I realized I had forgotten the onion and garlic, so I gave then a liberal dusting with granulated garlic and onion salt.
Now we pull the shoulder into fairly large chunks and get the roux out of the fridge...Everything goes back into the pot and simmers for a bit, then we thicken it up. The roux looks a little "funky" in this pic, but it is just because I keep a jar in the fridge...the oil separates. Just give it a good stir and pour in it.
Now you can make yourself a nice pot of rice, or boiled potatoes (the traditional serving method) , a veggie and chow down to a wonderful stick-to-the-ribs winter meal.
Thanks for checking out my ragout.
Literally translated "Stew with feet of the pig"
I often use a small smoked shoulder rather than hocks or feet
This is a traditional French Canadian holiday stew familiar to people here in New England, probably not so elsewhere. Pure comfort food.
Ragoût:
2 cups all purpose flour, browned...(technique follows)
4 pigs's feet or ham hocks
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
2 pounds meatballs (recipe follows)
1 large onion studded with 8 or 9 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Water, or chicken stock to cover by 2 inches.
MEATBALLS:
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1 onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 pinch nutmeg
salt and pepper
2 slices of bread, soaked in milk and squeezed dry
1 egg, beaten
TO BROWN THE FLOUR:
Turn the oven to it's highest setting, and place rack in the middle.
Place flour in an oven-proof skillet, place in oven 4-6 minutes , then stir.
Repeat this process watching carefully so it doesn't burn, 4-6 times, stirring each time until the flour is a light caramel color. Remove from oven and reserve.
MEATBALLS:
Mix the meatball ingredients and make balls about 1 inch in diameter. place on a sheet pan and bake 15 minutes at 350°
RAGOUT:
In a large Dutch oven, place the ham hocks, studded onion, bay leaves and salt and pepper. Cover with chicken broth or water by two inches and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until meat is tender. Remove from heat and let meat cool. Discard the skin and fat from the hocks and pull the meat off in chunks. Remove as much fat as possible from the broth.
Return the pork to Dutch oven , add chicken and meatballs and bring to a boil. Make sure the meat is covered with broth (add stock if necessary) and reduce heat to simmer.
Mix the browned flour with cold water a bit at a time, until a thick paste has formed.
Place one large spoonful at a time into the pot and stir until desired thickness is obtained.
Serve over hot boiled potatoes.
This dish, like so many others evolved from leftovers from the holiday celebrations..it seems much of peasant food did come into being that way.
Since I had no leftover chicken, I put a fryer into the pot with some bay leaves, onion, peppercorns and salt and let it simmer until it fell off the bone.
It was then time to turn my attention to the meatballs...I used a lovely pork, veal and beef mix they had at my local market. The pork shoulder also went into the pot when the chicken came out.
When I tossed the shoulder in to simmer, I also put in an onion that was well-studded with whole cloves...simmered until it was ready to pull.
[[url=https://postimages.org/]
While that was simmering, I soaked some bread in milk, measured out the rest of the ingredients for the meatballs, and got to work. I like to add the spices to the egg before it goes into the meat mixture...I feel it gets a little better distribution that way.
Then mix it all up and make the meatballs
Into a 350°F oven they go, for about 15 minutes...just want to brown them..they will finish cooking with the other meats.
It was at this point, when I took them out of the oven that I realized I had forgotten the onion and garlic, so I gave then a liberal dusting with granulated garlic and onion salt.
Now we pull the shoulder into fairly large chunks and get the roux out of the fridge...Everything goes back into the pot and simmers for a bit, then we thicken it up. The roux looks a little "funky" in this pic, but it is just because I keep a jar in the fridge...the oil separates. Just give it a good stir and pour in it.
Now you can make yourself a nice pot of rice, or boiled potatoes (the traditional serving method) , a veggie and chow down to a wonderful stick-to-the-ribs winter meal.
Thanks for checking out my ragout.
for one hell of a write up!
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