Tarragon Pork Ragout – (Tárkonyos sertésraguleves)

Tarragon Pork Ragout  -  (Tárkonyos sertésraguleves)
Ingredients:
3/4 lb pork (leg or shoulder) – you can substitute veal, 1 medium red onion, 4 tablespoons oil, 1 bay leaf, 1 level teaspoon salt, 2 medium carrots, 1 parsnip, 7 oz small mushrooms, 5 oz frozen peas, 1 bouillon cube or 1 tablespoon spice mixture, 1 teaspoon mustard, juice from 1/2 lemon, dash of ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon marjoram, 1/2 cup sour cream and whole cream each, 1 tablespoon flour, 1 small bunch of tarragon (or 1 teaspoon dried tarragon leaves)

Wash the meat, pat dry and cut into 1/2” cubes. Chop onion finely. Heat oil, sauté meat and onion for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly for 4-5 minutes or until meat turns white. Put in bay leaf, salt and a bit of water, then cook, covered, over low heat for about 50 minutes until tender. Take off the lid and continue cooking until all the water evaporates. In the meantime, clean all the vegetables, cut carrots and parsnip into 1/2” cubes, mushroom into wedges. Mix in with the meat, cook for about 3-4 minutes. Add 1 1/4 quarts of water, the peas and the crushed bouillon cube. Bring to a boil then cook over low heat for about 20 minutes until everything is tender. Mix the mustard with the lemon juice, black pepper, marjoram and a bit of water (to make a soluble mixture) then stir in with the soup. Mix the cream and the sour cream with the flour. Ladle in a bit of hot soup to prevent it from curdling later. (Make sure there are no lumps in it. If needed, strain it.) Reduce the heat under the soup and pour the mixture into it, boil for a couple of minutes to let it thicken. Wash the tarragon, pick the leaves off the stem, chop finely. Put in the soup and cook for barely a minute or two to preserve its characteristic flavor. If you have no fresh tarragon on hand, substitute dried leaves. You can use any type of mushroom.

Preparation time: 1 hour 40 minutes
One serving: 2053 kJ/491 kcal