Blanquette in French implies “white” and as a cooking term refers to a stew made of white meat poached in clear broth or water with aromatic vegetables. The poaching liquid is thickened with a roux (flour and butter) and a liaison of egg yolks and cream, or just cream, to make a rich, ivory colored sauce that coats the meat and vegetables. In the classic Blanquette de veau à l’ancienne , veal is simmered with carrots, onions and herbs, then the cooking vegetables are discarded and replaced by light colored cultivated mushrooms and pearl onions (separately cooked) in the final dish.
In this contemporary version, golden chanterelle mushrooms (known as girolle in French) and carrots brighten things up and deepen the flavor of the cooking broth. However, blanquette de veau is infinitely adaptable and in the spring I like to add early season vegetables and garnish the dish with fresh dill.
Veal is the meat of a calf less than a year old. It is white, moist, finely grained and very tender with little fat. It is a highly prized ingredient, but its quality varies depending on how it was raised. The best veal comes from a veau de lait sous la mère (milk fed veal), calves that have been fed exclusively on it’s mothers milk. They calves are slaughtered between 3 and 5 months of age and the meat is very pale pink. Darker veal comes from animals that have been fed a grass or grain and are maybe a bit older.
Most French recipes call for using the tendron, a piece of the breast that has a lot of cartilage, that will turn into gelatin as it, cooks and give the sauce flavor and body. However, this cut does not generally exist outside of France so I suggest using the shoulder and throwing in some cracked veal bones.
Veal releases a large amount of unpleasant grey scum when first heated. A quick boil and a rinse under cold water eliminates most this scum that would make a simmered dish made with veal cloudy. The meat only starts to release flavor after 20 minutes of cooking, so this brief parboil will not affect the final flavor of the dish.
Blanquette de Veau au Girolle
Ingredients
- Serves 8-10
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- 5 lb (2.3 kg) Veal shoulder cut into 2-inch (5 cm) cubes
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 lb (450 g) chanterelle mushrooms, left whole if small, sliced vertically if large
- 6 tablespoons (90 g) butter
- 3 carrots, peeled, cut into disc
- 2 medium onions, peeled and halved vertically
- 3 cloves (stuck into one of the onion halves)
- 1¼ lb (550 g) pearl onions
- 4 tablespoons (32 g) flour
- 2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream (minimum 30% fat)
- Salt and Pepper
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
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Instructions
- Put the cubed meat in a pot, cover with cold water. Bring to a boil on high heat, reduce to a simmer and cook 5 minutes. Drain the meat into a colander and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Set aside
- Fill another pot with 3 quarts (3 liters) of water and place over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, lemon juice and bay leaves. When the water begins to simmer, add the mushrooms and cook 5 minutes. Remove mushrooms with a slotted spoon and reserve the cooking liquid and the bay leaves.
- Heat 2 tablespoons (30 g) of butter in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the carrots and cook 5 minutes to draw out their flavor, but not letting them color. Add the onion halves, veal and reserved bay leaves. Pour in enough of the mushroom cooking liquid to completely cover the meat (top up with water if necessary). Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a low simmer. Partially cover the pot so that some of the liquid evaporates but the ingredients stay moist. Cook for 1 to 1½ hours, until the meat is completely tender but not falling apart. Keep warm.
- Put the pearl onions in a saucepan and add 1 cup of the veal cooking liquid. Simmer the onions for 10 to 15 minutes or until they are easily pierced with a knife. Drain and reserve the cooking liquid and onions separately.
- Drain the meat and vegetables into a colander set over a pot large enough to hold the cooking liquid. Remove the meat along with the carrots from the colander and reserve. Discard the onion halves. Return the pot of cooking liquid to the stove and simmer, skimming off any fat or scum and reduce to about 2 quarts (2 liters).
- In a clean pot, large enough to hold the finished Blanquette, melt 4 tablespoons of butter. Add the flour and cook until the mixture looks sandy and smells nutty, about 4 minutes. Whisk in the hot broth. Bring to a gentle simmer and let reduce by at least a third. Add the cream, reduce to thicken then add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.
- When the sauce is finished, add the veal, carrots, mushrooms and pearl onions. Place over low heat to warm through. Serve sprinkled with parsley.
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https://www.charlottepuckette.com/recipes/main-dish-meatpoultry/blanquette-de-veau-au-girolle/
