Veal Blanquette

Veal blanquette is a dish my parents used to cook on weekends when I was a child. I never did it myself before so I just realised why they only cooked this during the weekend: it takes 3h to cook! But it is so worth it… It is the perfect meal for the cold season, from the last days of Autumn, until the begining of Spring! Here is my recipe for 4 people. For the wine, I suggest you to chose one you will enjoy to drink with your meal, I choose a Chardonnay here. For the side dish, I cooked some rice (180 g cooked 10 minutes in the remained bouillon) but you can also serve it with pastas, salad, etc…

Ingredients:

• 450 g veal
• 250 g mushrooms
• 3 carrots
• 1 leek
• 1 onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 shallot
• 15 cl white wine
• 80 g butter
• 60 g all purpose flour
• 1 egg yolk
• 10 cl liquid cream
• 3.5 L water
• 1 chicken stock cube
• 4 cloves
• 1 bouquet garni (sage, thyme and curly parsley)
• 2 tablespoons black pepper
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 handfull fresh flat parsley

Recipe:

Peel the carrots, garlic, onion and shallot. Cut the carrots in slices, whash the leek and cut it in pieces. Chop the shallot and garlic. Cut the onion in 4 pieces and jab each part with a clove. Wash and cut the mushrooms. Cut the veal in big cubes (70 g each) and place them in a casserole dish with 2 L water. Make it boil and let cook 1-2 minutes. Then, remove the water and wash the veal with cold water. Put it back into the casserole dish with the garlic, shallot, onion, carrots, leek, bouquet garni, crumbled chicken stock cube, salt, black pepper and 1.5L water. Make it boil, then, reduce the heat at low temperature and cover. Let cook for 1h30.

During this time, place 20 g butter in a frying pan with the mushrooms and cook them 10 minutes. Then, remove from the burner and put it to one side. In a saucepan, melt the 60 g butter remained and add the flour combining them with a whisk (you will create a roux). Remove from the burner and put it to one side as well.

When the veal and vegetables are cooked, place a colander on a big bowl and pour them inside (the bouillon that will go into the bowl will be used after). Put back into the casserole dish the meat and vegetables (throw the bouquet garni). Place the saucepan with the roux back on the burner at medium-high temperature and pour 20 cl of the bouillon into it. Mix with the whisk to create a sauce, then, add 20 cl of bouillon again. Combine again and finally, add 20 cl of bouillon another time. Continue mixing until it creates a sauce and bubbles begin to appear (boiling), then remove from the burner.

Pour the sauce into the casserole dish with veal and vegetables, add the mushrooms with 1 small ladle of bouillon (5 cl) and heat 10-15 minutes at medium temperature. When it is ready, mix the egg yolk with the liquid cream and add it into the casserole dish and mix. Wash and chop the fresh flat parsley and add to the casserole dish as well. Serve with some rice, pastas, salad or something else you enjoy. For this recipe, there will remain some bouillon, you can use it to cook your rice or pastas, or you can keep it for a soup later.