Veal classics: blanquette

The French have their own national veal dish: the blanquette, literally something white. Like the pot-au-feu and any preparation involving simmering, it probably dates back to the sixteenth century. I was disappointed not to see any reference to it in Alexandre Dumas or in Julia Childs. She writes of Normandy’s veal rib, which shares with blanquette a generous usage of cream but utilizes a fatter and tastier part of the animal than the latter does. When cooking a rib of veal, whether sautéing or baking it, one capitalizes on the natural caramelizing reaction that occurs during cooking. With the blanquette, however, there is no Maillard effect. As the meat is blanched and consequently scrubbed of taste, the cook disposes of the equivalent of a blank page. Her art is to impart flavor to blandness. That’s where the cream, lemon, mushrooms and onions come into play. The other challenge is to turn a lean cut of meat into a tender piece. To achieve this goal, a long simmering time is all that’s required.
My recipe follows the traditional method and serves 4. Variants involve using a béchamel (August 14th), before adding the cream and the yolks, and sautéing the blanched cubes of veal in butter.

Veal Blanquette
(Easy, Preparation time: 30 minutes, Cooking time: 6 hours unattended, A little pricey)

Ingredients:
1 lbs and ½ (800g) veal from the shoulder cut in 1-inch cubes
1 carrot peeled and diced
1 small onion frozen, peeled and diced
1 bouquet garni
1 garlic clove peeled and smashed
20 tiny onions blanched and peeled once cool or fresh in season
½ pound (250g) white mushrooms washed divided into heads sliced and bottom cubed
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups vegetable stock
Juice of ½ lemon
1 cup (250ml) heavy cream
2 yolks
Salt and pepper
Material
1 large saucepan and its cover or a slow cooker
2 salad bowls
1 strainer
1 small saucepan

Place the veal cubes in a saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. After 30 seconds, strain the veal pieces and rinse them under cold water.
Place the meat in the slow cooker. Cover with the stock. Add the carrot and onion cubes, the garlic paste, the bouquet garni and the mushroom bottoms. Simmer on the low range of the slow cooker from 6 to 8 hours. Set the slow cooker on the warm setting. Strain the meat and reserve the broth in a salad bowl. Place the veal pieces back into the slow cooker.
Put the butter in a small saucepan and melt it over the low setting of the gas. Add the peeled onions, a pinch of salt, some ground pepper ½ the sugar and enough water to cover the onions. After six minutes, strain and add the onions to the meat in the slow cooker.
Repeat the same sequence for the mushrooms. Add to the veal and onions.
Put the strained broth in the same saucepan. Over medium gas, bring to a boil and let it reduce until you have a cup (200 ml) left.
In a salad bowl, whip the cream and the lemon.
In another salad bowl whip the yolks.
Add the content of the first bowl to the boiling broth. When the boiling resumes, cook the cream for another three minutes. Remove from the gas. Add the yolks while whipping constantly. Add salt and pepper and taste. Strain the sauce over the meat. Serve immediately, or add to the content of the slow cooker and keep on the warm setting until ready to serve. Garnish with white rice and be generous with the sauce.