Hachee
Hachée is a traditional Dutch stew based on diced meat, fish or poultry, and vegetables. Most of the time it is based on beef, onions and vinegar or wine, and is a typical example of cuisine in the Netherlands. It sometimes includes clove and bay leaves are added to its thick gravy.
It goes really well with potatoes!
Ingredients
- 3 pounds of beef
- 1 litre beef stock
- 2 white onions
- 250 gr butter
- 2 red apples
- 2 tablespoons of apple vinegar
- 2 tablespoons of syrup (maple does nicely)
- 1 tablespoon ginger powder
- 1 teaspoon powdered clove
- 1 teaspoon powdered nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon powdered cardamom
- 1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
- 250 grams of crumbled bread
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt and pepper
Preparation
Chop up the onion in to small bits and the beef in to bite sized cubes. Set the butter in a large pot to melt and add the onions and the beef together.
Peel and dice the apples and add them to the pot with the beef stock when the onions are translucent. Add the vinegar
In a separate container mix the ginger, clove, nutmeg, cardamom and cinnamon, and add them to the pot. (If you don’t have these ingredients at hand in powdered form, make sure you can take them out later, using a tea strainer or similar device.)
Add the salt and pepper and taste it. It should have a flavor I can only describe as a “warm acid beef Christmas broth” flavor.
Leave the broth to simmer, for as long as it takes for the meat to start falling apart. This step takes forever, so if you’re in a hurry use a pressure cooker.
When the meat is ready stir in the bread crumbs and lower the heat to minimum. Wait for the stew to thicken and serve hot.
This dish is traditionally served on cold days in November with boiled red cabbage and potatoes. So I obliged and added some red cabbage in apple sauce, and some kartoffelsalat.
This recipe serves 3 or 4 people.