Bacon Mushroom Ragout

Ragout (pronounced ra goo) is nothing more than a cooked slow dish.  Technically, it is a stew involving something thick, rich and well-seasoned. It can, but doesn’t require meat.

This ragout has the best of meats…bacon… and paired with the mushrooms?

All is well with the world at this moment.

Take 5 slices of bacon.  I used thick-sliced bacon, (but you don’t have to) and cut it into thin strips.

Toss them into a pan over medium heat and let them start to cook.

While that starts to cook, chop up one-half of a red onion.  Toss it into the pan with the bacon. 

Ever smelled onion cooking in bacon fat? O – MY – GOSH!

Also squeeze in 2 cloves of garlic.  Or just chop them up and toss em in!

Stir this all together and let it cook a minute.

Now, you’ll need an entire package of sliced mushrooms.  Or, of course you can buy whole ones and slice them yourself.

If you visited yesterday, you may have seen my egg-slicer-mushroom-trick.

Take your mushrooms and toss them into your pan.

Add a little olive oil if you think it’s too dry.  Also add in 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of  pepper.  You won’t require as much salt due to using the bacon, but season this to your taste.

Stir these all around for 5-6 minutes and allow the mushrooms to get tender, brown and juicy.

Now, I could just stop right here and eat this whole pan.

But there’s more.

Add in one-half cup of chicken stock or broth.

Also add in one-half cup of red wine ( I used Cabernet Sauvignon).

Let this reduce down by at least one-half of the liquid – cooking and stirring another 4 or 5 minutes.

Simmer and reduce…simmer and reduce. Stir and stir.

Once again, I could just take my cast iron skillet off the stove and sit down with a spoon and be happy.

But remember my Cheesy Parmesan Polenta from yesterday?

It begs for something juicy and savory to go over top of it.

So spoon on some of your ragout.

And, just for fun, I did this…

That is my “cheater” egg poaching dish. I just set it in a pan with some water and pop a lid on and let it steam.

Someone please come and help me poach eggs.  I hate being defeated by a cooking challenge.

I topped my ragout with a poached egg and some chives for fun.  I’ve been itching to use the new chives coming up in my garden.

This was bacon and eggs at it’s finest.  The mushrooms, bacon and red wine reduction over the cheesy polenta made me sigh with happiness.

So many great comments were left yesterday.  Belle of the Kitchen said her husband loves shrimp, shrimp-n-grits style.   I’ve been thinking about making shrimp and grits for awhile.  After poking around on her blog, I found this and am making it soon!

Maria over at Two Peas and Their Pod suggested putting roasted veggies over top of Polenta.   Yummm!

I am excited about trying out a few new ideas for Polenta…but tonight…

It was the night to fall in love with Bacon Mushroom Ragout.

Katie’s Printable Recipe – Bacon Mushroom Ragout