Braised Short Rib & Oxtail Croquettes/Bitterballen

a fun way to use up leftover ragu!

I made some braised beef and oxtail ragu the other day for my friends on a lazy Sunday- and since I had so much left over, I decided to make some croquettes with a briny olive mayo! I based them on bitterballen, which is a Dutch delicacy. Basically, a croquette that’s thickened with a beef gravy and then deep-fried. I shallow-fried these because I’m always too lazy to go through the faff of deep-frying, but either works great. Since ragu can be a bit more liquid, I like doing a thick gravy, refrigerating overnight, and then once the croquettes are formed, sticking them in the freezer for a bit so that they don’t fall apart in the oil.

I paired them with an olive mayo that I made with olive oil and the brine from these delicious Perello olives I had lying in my fridge.

It’s a long process and a labor of love, but sooo worth it. I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

beef ragu mix (this makes a lot of ragu- if you are just making the croquettes, I would 1/2 this recipe)

2 carrots, finely diced

2 celery sticks, finely diced

4 shallots, finely diced

3 cloves of crushed garlic

2-3 kg of braising meat (I used a mix of ox tail and short rib)

2-3 tsp of salt (divided)

1.5 tbsp tomato paste

225 ml dry red wine (chianti is great)

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs rosemary

2 sprigs thyme

750 ml beef stock

water to cover the rest

400g whole peeled pomodoro tomatoes (canned)

1 parmesan rind (optional)

gravy for croquettes

30g butter

30g flour

250ml beef/chicken stock

1 tsp mustard

salt and pepper to taste

dash of Worcestershire sauce

pane mix for croquettes

200g plain flour

2 eggs whisked

200g panko breadcrumbs

neutral oil to deep-fry

olive mayo

1 egg yolk

150 ml olive oil

1 tsp olive brine

1/2 tsp mustard powder/or regular mustard

lemon and salt to taste

Method:

ragu

Dice your carrots, celery, and shallots. This is your mirepoix base for the ragu.

Then, pat your meat dry and season heavily with 1-2 tsp of the salt. Make sure it is covered on all sides.

In a pan over medium-high heat, add 1 tbsp of oil and let get hot. Put some of your meat in the pan and brown on all sides, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. It is best to brown the meat in batches.

In between each batch, deglaze the pan with water and pour off the brown liquid into a separate container. If there are any burnt parts or if the deglazing liquid tastes bitter, do not save it, but rather discard it.

Once all the meat is browned, put it into a large stockpot and pour the deglazed liquid (declacage) over it.

In that same pan, add some more oil and add in the mirepoix with a pinch of salt.

Cook until deeply browned and caramelized, about 15-20 minutes. Make sure it doesn’t burn.

When it is deeply browned, add in your crushed cloves of garlic and your tomato paste.

Mix to combine and cook out until the tomato paste turns a dark brick red.

Then, add in your herbs and mix to combine.

Pour in the red wine, and bring to a simmer. Let it reduce until the smell and taste of alcohol is gone, and the wine thickens.

Pour this mix over the beef in the large stockpot.

Add the canned whole peeled tomatoes to the beef, crushing them with your hands.

Then, add in your beef stock.

If the beef still isn’t covered, add in water until everything is fully submerged.

If you have a parmesan rind, add it in.

Bring this to a simmer, and then cover and let braise for 3-4 hours.

The beef is ready when you can easily shred it with two spoons.

Remove the beef to a separate bowl. Put the remaining sauce back on the stove and bring to a boil. Reduce until very, very thick, it should take about 30 minutes. Make sure the bottom and sides aren’t burning.

While that’s reducing, shred the beef and get rid of any extra fat or gristle.

Once the sauce is thickened, add the shredded meat back in. Ideally, this mix is very thick so that the croquettes don’t fall apart when frying.

If it seems too thin, put it back on the stove and reduce it down until it’s very thick. It shouldn’t be very liquid at all.

Taste to see if it needs more salt. I like adding some lemon at this stage to brighten it up.

This is your ragu done.

gravy mix

In a saucepan, melt the 30g of butter until foamy. Then, add in your flour and whisk until fully combined.

Cook until a light brown color is achieved.

Then, slowly pour in your cold stock, whisking the entire time.

The stock needs to be added gradually, and all lumps need to be whisked before adding in more stock. This results in a smooth gravy. Once all the stock is added in, cook it for another 3-4 minutes until it thickens up and becomes a very thick gravy. Make sure you’re whisking the whole time so that it doesn’t burn.

Season with the mustard and Worcestershire sauce.

Add your braised beef mix to the gravy. I like straining any excess liquid from the ragu by lifting the shredded beef out with a slotted spoon.

Add it into the gravy and mix fully. Taste and add more salt or pepper if needed.

Refrigerate for at least two hours, but ideally overnight.

olive mayo

In a small bowl, add in your egg yolk along with the mustard and olive brine. Mix to combine.

Then, slowly drizzle in your olive oil while whisking constantly. The yolk will eventually emulsify, creating a thick mayo.

Once thick, taste and add salt and lemon as needed.

forming the croquettes

When the mix is totally cool, it should be a scoopable consistency.

Form the croquettes in whatever shape you like, I did rectangles, but traditionally they are balls.

Once formed, pop them back in the fridge to firm up while you set up your pané station.

In three separate containers, put your flour in one, your whisked eggs in another, and the panko breadcrumbs in the last. This is your station for breading (or pané) your croquettes.

Dip the croquettes in the flour and coat all sides. Shake off any excess flour and then put it in the egg mix. Using your other hand, coat all sides with the egg and shake off any excess. Then put in the panko mix and using your dry hands, coat all sides with the breadcrumbs. This way, you always have a wet and dry hand.

Place all the breaded croquettes on a sheet pan and put them in the freezer to set up while you heat up your oil.

You can either shallow-fry the croquettes in a pan with 1/4 inch of oil in there. Or you can deep-fry them in a large pot.

The oil temp needs to be 350F/170C.

Fry the croquettes until golden brown and hot in the middle. I like placing them on a wire rack so they stay crispy and sprinkling a bit of flaky salt.

Serve with chives on top and the olive mayo or mustard!

Enjoy!