Tongue ragout from the Braunschweig region

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 beef tongue(s) (not cured)
• Salt
• some beef bones
• 1 bunch of soup vegetables
• 1 onion(s), diced
• 40 g butter
• 50 g flour
• Salt and pepper, white
• Nutmeg, freshly grated
• 3 tbsp Madeira
• 3 tbsp red wine
• 150 g sausages (sauce sausages, cocktail sausages)
• 300 g pork mince
• 1 egg(s)
• 50 g breadcrumbs
• 100 g shallot(s)
• 150 g mushrooms
• 20 g butter

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 3 hours; Total time approx. 4 hours

Tongue ragout with dumplings and saucissen (cocktail sausages)

Boil the beef tongue in plenty of salted water with the beef bones, then skim off the skims and simmer with the vegetables for about 2.5 hours. When the tip of the tongue can be easily pierced, the tongue is cooked. Sauté the diced onion in the butter until translucent, add the flour, and brown, stirring constantly. Pour in the red wine, Madeira, and 0.5 liters of cold tongue broth and simmer for 20 minutes, then season to taste. To make the dumplings, mix the minced meat with the egg and breadcrumbs. Season with salt and pepper, form very small dumplings, and simmer in the remaining broth until cooked through. Slice the mushrooms. Melt the remaining butter in a pan and sauté the shallots with the sliced ​​mushrooms. Add the sauce. Add everything to the sauce along with the diced tongue and the minced meat balls and bring back to a boil. Serve with boiled potatoes. Note: Saucissen are small, boiled, fine sausages, about the thickness of a finger and about 5 cm long. Here in Braunschweig, you can occasionally find them at local butchers. Since tongue ragout is no longer as common these days, they are not always available. Jarred cocktail sausages can also be used as a substitute, although they taste different after smoking. It is advisable to cook the tongue the day before and let it cool. In the past, tongue ragout was a must-have as an intermezzo at large family celebrations. Today, tongue dishes have fallen somewhat out of fashion, even though it is a very lean and tender meat.