Student Ragout Recipes

Steps:

• In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the flour, salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and shake to coat., In a large skillet, saute beef and onion in oil over medium heat until meat is browned and onion is tender. Add the water, wine or broth, chili sauce, bacon, garlic, oregano, thyme and remaining pepper; mix well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add carrots and mushrooms; cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until carrots and meat are tender. Serve over noodles.

Steps:

• In a small bowl, soak the porcini mushrooms in 1 1/2 cups hot water until softened, 15 minutes.
• In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat. Add one-third of the assorted mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, 4 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove mushrooms to a plate and repeat twice with remaining mushrooms. Return all cooked mushrooms to skillet.
• Drain porcini mushrooms, reserving liquid, and coarsely chop. Add porcini, shallot and garlic to mushrooms and cook over moderate heat, stirring, 3 minutes. Strain porcini liquid over mushroom mixture, stopping before adding any grit or sand. Boil over high heat 4 minutes, or until reduced by half. Stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and fold in remaining 1 tablespoon butter.

Steps:

• Place tomatoes in a bowl, add 1 tablespoon of the oil, season with salt and pepper and toss. Add leaves from 4 branches of the thyme, toss again, then spread the tomatoes in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet, skin side down. Set aside.
• Heat remaining oil in an ovenproof casserole on medium high. Dry meat and sear in several batches to avoid crowding until lightly browned on all sides. Remove to a bowl. Lower heat to medium low. Heat oven to 300 degrees.
• Add fennel, leeks, shallot and garlic to casserole, stir, season with salt and pepper and cook until lightly browned. Stir in the flour, cook for a moment or two, than add olives, chile flakes and wine. Stir, scraping pan, and bring to a simmer. Add stock. Return meat and its juices to the casserole. Top with branches of rosemary and remaining thyme. Cover and place in the oven. Place the pan of tomatoes in the oven. Cook both for 2 hours.
• Remove the pans from the oven. Check seasonings of meat. Transfer meat and sauce to a serving dish, arrange tomatoes on top and serve together.

Steps:

• In a large hot saucepan heat oil. Add onion, 1/3 of garlic, red pepper flakes, thyme and saute until onions and garlic are fragrant. Stir in zucchini, 1/3 garlic and tarragon, partially cover pan and cook for approximately 3 minutes or until zucchini has begun to soften. Stir in plum tomatoes with juice, 1/3 garlic and basil, partially cover pan and cook for 7 minutes or until vegetables are crisp tender. Serve over rice. Top with Parmesan.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.
• In a heavy roasting pan, combine the vegetablesand olive oil and toss to coat. Roast 20 to 30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes, until the vegetables are nicely browned.
• Meanwhile, tie the herbs together with kitchen string. Transfer the pan to the top of the stove. Add the wine, stock, tomatoes, and herbs and cook over high heat for 15 minutes. Stir in the Swiss chard and cook 2 minutes more.
• Season with salt and pepper. To serve, spoon the vegetables and sauce over the polenta.

Steps:

• Place the dried mushrooms in a pyrex measuring cup or a bowl and pour on 2 cups boiling water. Let soak 30 minutes, while you prepare the other ingredients. Place a strainer over a bowl, line it with cheesecloth or paper towels, and drain the mushrooms. Save the liquid. Squeeze the mushrooms over the strainer and rinse until they are free of sand. Chop coarsely.
• Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet or a wide saucepan and add the shallots or onion. Cook, stirring often, until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, stir together for about 30 seconds, until fragrant, then add the fresh mushrooms, rosemary and thyme, and turn up the heat slightly. Cook until the mushrooms begin to sweat, then add a generous pinch of salt. Stir for about 5 minutes over medium-high heat as the mushrooms continue to soften and sweat. Add the flour and continue to cook the mushrooms, stirring, until they have softened a little more and you can no longer see the flour, about 2 minutes. Add the reconstituted dried mushrooms and the wine and turn the heat to high. Cook, stirring, until the liquid boils down and glazes the mushrooms, about 5 minutes. Stir in the dried mushroom soaking liquid, bring to a simmer, add salt to taste, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until the mushrooms are thoroughly tender and fragrant and the surrounding broth is thick, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in some freshly ground pepper and the parsley, taste and adjust salt.

Steps:

• Sauté onion and garlic in margarine in large frying pan until onion is soft and golden. Turn into ungreased 3 quart casserole.
• Add beef. Add tomato juice mixture, bay leaves and pepper. Stir. Cover. Bake in 325F oven for 1 1/2 hours.
• Add next 6 ingredients. Stir. Cover. Bake for about 1 hour until beef is very tender. Remove and discard bay leaves.
• Stir water into flour in small cup until smooth. Gradually stir into beef mixture. Cover. Bake for 15 minutes until bubbling and thickened.
• Makes 10 cups.