The term “ragoût” comes from the French word ragoûter, which means “to revive the appetite.” Ragoût recipes have been found dating back at least to the 1600s, suggesting they have been in the repertoire much earlier. In different regions of France today, a ragoût may be served as a main course dish or as a thick sauce to accompany boiled new potatoes, noodles, or some other starch.
Brown or White Ragoût
There are brown and white types of ragoût. In a brown ragoût, the meat is first browned in fat, then sprinkled with flour, cooked a little, and finally moistened with clear stock or water or thickened meat juices. For a white ragoût, the meat is cooked until firm, but not browned, then sprinkled with flour and diluted with stock.
Low and Slow for Meat or Poultry Ragoût
The defining characteristic of ragoût made with meat or poultry is that it is cooked low and slow. The slow cooking allows flavors to develop over time, creating a richly layered flavor. Historically, a ragoût is made over the fire or on a woodstove, allowing the stew to mature slowly over the course of the day, periodically adding ingredients that take less cooking time.
A ragoût using fish (and sometimes vegetables) may not need the low and slow, unless it is to deepen the flavor of the sauce. Fish cooks very quickly and so may be added only at the end. The wild mushroom ragout below can be made in under half an hour.
Wild Mushroom Ragoût Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 4 large shallots, thinly sliced
- 1 pound fresh wild mushrooms, or a mixture of wild and button pr cremini mushrooms (see reconstituting dry mushrooms)
- 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
- 1½ tsp rosemary needles, minced
- ¼ cup dry red Sherry
- 1/4 cup chicken, mushroom or vegetable stock
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 Tbsp brandy (optional)
- 2-3 tsp lemon juice
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Method
- Melt butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat and sauté shallots, garlic and mushrooms until the mushrooms are tender, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the fresh thyme, rosemary, Sherry and stock. Cook and reduce until very little liquid remains, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the cream and let the mixture thicken a bit, about 3 minutes.
- Stir in the brandy and lemon juice and cook 2 minutes more.
- Taste and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Serve garnished with a sprinkle of chopped parsley.
How to Reconstitute Dried Mushrooms
Adding some dried mushrooms like morels or porcinis adds depth to the flavors. Soak them in a bowl with enough brandy or Sherry to cover for 30 minutes. Weight them down with another bowl the same size to keep the mushrooms submerged. Be sure to add the soaking liquid, too.
Larry Ervin - Foodie, self-taught cook and cookbook addict, I never met a recipe I didn't want to twist, simplify, add or switch out ingredients.
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