Grass-Fed Beef and Veggie Ragout

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Ragout: A derivitave of the French verb ragouter, meaning “to stimulate the appetite,” ragout is a thick, rich, well-seasoned stew of meat, poultry or fish and sometimes vegetables. – A Food Lover’s Companion

This is one of my favorite make-ahead meals. When the freezer is stocked with this stuff, I’m livin’ large! In the video I encourage you to use my guidance as just that, a guideline. I often incorporate other meats and chipotle in my Ragout when I reheat it. Ann Schuler can testify to that, right Ann? It gives a “nineties-fusion-cuisine” twist on a timeless classic by combining this French dish with the smoked jalapeno popularized in Mexico.

If you experiment with this, please share your story.

The above picture is shows this ragout paired with spaghetti squash.

Sometimes I think that the things I say are a lot more interesting than they actually are. That was definitely the case in this video. I had nearly forty minutes of jibber jabber that I had to pare down to under seven minutes. And, it is still long winded and studded with disfluencies. I think it might be time to join my local Toastmasters club…

I need to take my University Spanish Teacher, Francisco Miranda’s advice. He’d always say, “Just because you can say 700 things about a subject/topic, it doesn’t mean you should.”

I’ll close with a Chinese Proverb from a book I am currently reading, Making a Life, Making a Living by Mark Albion:

“Unless you change direction, you are likely to end up where you are headed…”

Now, get out there and make some Ragout!

Until next time…

Keep It Paleo!

Your Guide to Culinary Fitness,

Paleo Nick

Grass-Fed Beef and Veggie Ragout

Ingredient List:

  • 3 Pounds Grass-Fed Ground Beef
  • 4 Cups Yellow Onion, large dice
  • 3 Cups Celery, large dice
  • 3 Cups Carrot, large dice
  • 4 Bell Peppers (1 red, 1 yellow, and 2 green), large dice
  • 3 Zucchini, large dice
  • 3 Yellow Squash, large dice
  • 4 Cups Mushrooms, quartered
  • 3 Tablespoons Fresh Garlic, minced
  • 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 1 Quart Tomato Sauce
  • 1 Quart Tomato Puree
  • 1 Cup Italian Parsley, chopped
  • Kosher Salt, to taste*
  • Ground Black Pepper, to taste

*.3 ounces of salt is a generally accepted proper quantity to season 1 pound of ground meat, this will help give you an idea of how much salt to use.

Preparation Instructions:

  1. While heating a large sauté pan or soup pot over medium-high heat, season the ground beef with salt and pepper.
  2. Add olive oil to hot pan and heat until shimmering.
  3. Add garlic, stir and cook for 20-30 seconds, then add beef, seasoned side down.
  4. Season top side of beef at this point.
  5. Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes to achieve a nice sear, then begin breaking the meat up with a wooden spoon or spatula.
  6. Add the mire poix (onions, carrots, and celery), stir and cover with a lid or second pan. Cook for 5 minutes.
  7. Add the peppers, yellow squash and zucchini and stir, cover with lid and cook for 5 minutes longer.
  8. Add the mushrooms, stir and cook, uncovered from this point forward, for five minutes longer.
  9. Remove lid and add tomato sauce and puree. Stir well to incorporate.
  10. Cook until sauce has reduced and vegetables are the desired consistency.
  11. Add Italian parsley, and season with salt and pepper to your liking.
  12. Serve with spaghetti squash or eat as a meal in itself.
  13. You can refrigerate this for up to 6 days, or freeze it for up to 6 months.

“Keep It Paleo!”

Zone Breakdown:

Protein: (25)

After we cook our ground beef, we end up with a cooked weight of the meat of around 37oz. Since we know that 1.5oz equals one block, we therefore have about 25 blocks from the protein.
Carbohydrates:(30)
Most of the rest of our ingredients give us our carbs. We start with the onion. We know raw, 1.5 cups of onions equals one block, therefore we have about 2.5 blocks form the onion. 2.5 cups of celery is also one block so with 3 cups of celery, we will count this as another block. 3 cups of carrots equals exactly one block so we have one block from the carrots. On average get about 1 cup form a bell pepper and we know that 2 cups equal one block so therefore we get 2 blocks from the 4 bell peppers. Our three zucchini’s give us 1.5 blocks as do our 3 yellow squashes as 2 cups equal one block for both and on average 1 zucchini or 1 yellow squash equal one cup. 4 cups of mushrooms equal one block exactly, and we also get one block from the garlic. We can measure one clove as equaling about 1 teaspoon and we know there are 9 teaspoons in 3 tablespoons, so about 9 cloves and about 10 cloves equal one block. Finally our sauce and puree each measure ½ cup to one block. Since we have 8 cups between the two, we get an additional 16 blocks form these. Our total carb count is about 30 blocks.
Fats:(27)
Our fats come from our olive oil. We know that 1/3 of a teaspoon equals one block and therefore there are 9 blocks in a tablespoon and 27 in three tablespoons.
Balancing Act:
We can break this into 8 meals each with about 3-4 blocks in each. If we are adding spaghetti squash after, remember that will take the carb count up.

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