Morbradgryde

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy-bottomed pot or casserole, 5 litre
• •Slotted spoon
• •Wooden spoon
• •Sharp knife and cutting board

Instructions

1. 1

   Sear the pork

   Pat the pork medallions completely dry with kitchen paper and season them with salt and pepper. Wet meat steams, dry meat browns, and browning is where half the flavor of this stew lives. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pot or casserole over medium-high heat. When it shimmers, add the medallions in a single layer with space between them. Sear for about a minute and a half on each side until deeply golden, then lift them out onto a plate. Do this in two batches if you need to. Crowding the pan drops the temperature and you get grey meat instead of brown.

   The pork shouldn't be cooked through at this stage. You're building a crust on the outside. The inside will finish later in the sauce, where it stays tender.
2. 2

   Render the bacon

   Drop the heat to medium and add the bacon lardons to the same pot. Let them render slowly for five or six minutes, stirring now and then, until the fat has pooled and the bacon is golden and crisp at the edges. Lift the bacon out with a slotted spoon and set it aside. Leave the fat in the pot. That fat is the foundation of everything that follows.

3. 3

   Brown the sausages and mushrooms

   Add the cocktail sausages to the bacon fat and roll them around until they pick up color on all sides, about three minutes. Lift them out to join the pork. Now add the mushrooms in an even layer and leave them alone for two minutes before stirring. Mushrooms release water, and if you keep moving them, they boil in that water instead of browning. Once they've taken on color, scoop them out with the bacon.

4. 4

   Build the base

   Add the butter to the pot and let it melt into the remaining fat. Add the chopped onions with a pinch of salt and cook gently for seven or eight minutes until soft and translucent. You don't want color here. Color came earlier, from the meat. Now you want sweetness. Stir in the garlic and cook for a minute more until it smells nutty.

   Scrape the bottom of the pot as the onions soften. All those browned bits are fond, and fond is flavor. The onions' moisture will lift it right off.
5. 5

   Bloom the paprika and flour

   Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir it through until it disappears. Cook for a minute to take the raw edge off. Add the tomato paste and the paprika and stir them in. Let them cook for another minute. You'll see the paste darken and the paprika turn fragrant and almost earthy. This step is the one most people skip, and it's the one that separates a flat sauce from a deep one. Raw tomato paste tastes of tin. Cooked tomato paste tastes of sunshine and time.

6. 6

   Make the sauce

   Pour in the chicken stock, stirring as you go to work out any lumps from the flour. Add the chopped tomatoes, bay leaves, and mustard. Bring to a gentle simmer and let it bubble quietly for five minutes so the sauce thickens and the raw tomato edge softens. Stir in the cream. The sauce should look rusty-pink and glossy, thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

7. 7

   Return everything to the pot

   Tip the pork, bacon, sausages, and mushrooms back into the sauce along with any juices that have collected on the plate. Those juices are concentrated flavor and you don't leave them behind. Bring the stew back to a gentle simmer, cover partially, and cook for fifteen to twenty minutes. The pork should be just cooked through and tender, the sauce rounded and slightly reduced. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper. You'll know when it's right because the sauce will taste like one thing, not like a list of ingredients.

8. 8

   Rest and serve

   Take the pot off the heat and let it sit for five minutes. Morbradgryde always tastes better after a short rest, and better still the next day. Scatter the parsley over the top and bring the whole pot to the table. Serve generously over rice or mashed potatoes, the sauce spooned over everything. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •Make it the day before if you possibly can. Morbradgryde is one of those stews that improves overnight. The flavors settle into each other, the sauce deepens, and you save yourself the work on the day of the party. Reheat gently on the stovetop, never the microwave, which separates the cream.
• •Use real cocktail sausages if you can find them, the small smoked kind sold in Danish and German shops. In a pinch, good-quality small frankfurters cut into pieces will do. Avoid anything labelled as cocktail sausages that is pink and rubbery. Those belong in a different story.
• •Pork tenderloin cooks fast. Once it's back in the sauce, don't let the stew rip. A gentle simmer is all you need. Hard boiling will toughen the meat and turn it grey, and that is the one mistake this dish doesn't forgive.
• •Serve with rice, mashed potatoes, or buttered egg noodles. A glass of cold pilsner alongside, or a simple green salad with a sharp vinaigrette to cut the richness. Nothing more. The pot is the centerpiece.

Advance Preparation

• •Morbradgryde is made for making ahead. Cook it a full day before you serve it, cool completely, and refrigerate. Reheat gently on the stovetop with a splash of stock or cream if it has thickened too much.
• •It freezes well for up to two months, though the cream sauce can separate slightly on thawing. Stir it back together over low heat and it will come right.
• •The meat and vegetables can be prepped several hours ahead. Cut the pork, chop the onions, quarter the mushrooms, and keep everything covered in the fridge until you're ready to start cooking.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 450g)