Name: Bitterballen
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 180 min
Total time: 510 min
Ingredients: 2 beef shanks; 400 g stewing beef; 750 ml water; 1 onion (chopped); 1 carrot (in pieces); 1 leek (in slices); 2 sprigs thyme; 1 bay leaf; 3 leaves gelatine; 80 g butter; 100 g plain flour; 30 ml cognac (or a generous splash); 2 tsp mustard; 2 eggs; 50 ml whipping cream; 2 tbsp parsley (finely chopped); salt (to taste); pepper (to taste); 4 eggs (the white); 1 tbsp plain flour; breadcrumbs (finely); breadcrumbs (coarsely); oil (for frying)

Preparation

Cut 400 g stewing beef into large pieces. Meanwhile, soak 3 leaves gelatine in cold water. Clean the vegetables: finely chop 1 onion, cut 1 carrot into pieces and slice 1 leek into rings. Finely chop 2 tbsp parsley. Have everything ready, it will make things much more relaxed later.

Cooking

Heat a splash of oil in a frying pan and quickly brown the pieces of 400 g stewing beef in batches until they are nicely colored. This will later give extra flavour to your broth. Place the 2 beef shanks in a large pan, pour in 750 ml water and add the meat, vegetables, 2 sprigs thyme and 1 bay leaf. Bring slowly to a boil and let simmer gently for 2 to 3 hours. The meat should be meltingly tender and the broth full of flavour.
Remove the meat and shank from the pan and strain the broth. Let cool slightly. Pull the meat into threads using two forks and scoop out the marrow from the shank: that is pure flavour. Keep about 500 ml of broth for the ragout.
Melt 80 g butter in a pan and stir in 100 g plain flour. Cook this for 2 minutes while stirring continuously without letting it brown. Slowly pour in 500 ml of the broth and keep stirring well until you have a thick, smooth sauce. Stir in the meat and 30 ml cognac.
Remove the pan from the heat. Squeeze out the gelatin and mix it into the warm ragout. Also add 2 tsp mustard. Beat the yolks of 2 eggs with 50 ml whipping cream and quickly stir this in. Season with parsley, salt and pepper. Taste and, if necessary, add extra salt or pepper to taste.
Put the ragout in a dish, cover with foil, and let it set in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours. Even better: leave it overnight, then it will be much easier to roll into nice balls later.
Beat the white of 4 eggs with 1 tbsp plain flour. Roll balls from the ragout about 4 cm in diameter. First coat them in the fine breadcrumbs, then in the egg mixture, and finally in the coarse breadcrumbs. Let the bitterballen firm up in the refrigerator for another hour so they are solid enough to fry.

To serve

Heat oil to 180 °C. Fry the bitterballen in small batches for 3 to 4 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Let them drain on kitchen paper and serve immediately with some mustard. Have a few left over? No problem, you can freeze them and fry again later.