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VEAL STEW WITH WILD MUSHROOMS
Blanquette de Veau aux Morilles
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A blanquette is a ragoût made in a white sauce enriched with heavy cream and egg yolks. Also, in a blanquette, the meat is not browned before the stew is composed and cooked. (Although it is usually made with veal, recipes exist for blanquettes made with chicken, lamb, or fish.) A blanquette de veau - a classic French dish - normally contains button mushrooms, but this one is made with dried morel mushrooms. These wild mushrooms, prized in France for their unique robust and earthy flavor, transform the blanquette of the bistro into one for the palace. Certainly substitute fresh morels when they are available, or the classic button mushrooms (see *Cook’s Note below the recipe text).
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SERVES 6
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1 ounce, dried morel mushrooms [see *Cook’s Note below recipe]
8 cups, cold water
3 pounds, veal shoulder – cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1 onion - peeled (left whole) and studded with 2 cloves
1 large carrot
2 leeks - washed
1 turnip
2 stalks, celery
Bouquet Garni (see **Cook’s Note following recipe)
25 to 30 pearl onions, peeled root ends trimmed
but left intact to hold the onions together
2 1/2 tablespoons, butter
3 tablespoons, all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon, salt
1/4 teaspoon, freshly ground pepper
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup, heavy cream
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Place the dried morels in a small bowl, cover with 2 cups of the cold water, and let stand until softened, about 30 minutes. Remove the morels and squeeze gently to remove as much liquid as possible. Strain the soaking liquid through a sieve lined with a double thickness of cheesecloth or paper towel; set aside.
Place the veal in a large casserole and cover with cold water, about 6 cups. Bring to a boil over high heat, immediately reduce the heat to gently simmer the liquid, and skim the foam from the surface frequently.
Add the reserved morel soaking liquid, the clove-studded onion, the carrot, leeks, turnip, celery, and bouquet garni. Maintain the heat at medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes.
Add the pearl onions and simmer for 35 minutes.
Add the morels; continue to cook until the veal is tender; 10 to 15 minutes longer.
Drain the meat and vegetables, reserving the stock. Put the veal, pearl onions, and morels in a large saucepan. Discard the other vegetables and the bouquet garni.
Strain the reserved veal stock into a saucepan and boil it over high heat until it has reduced to 3 cups - about 10 minutes.
In a small saucepan, heat the butter over medium-high heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring frequently, until the roux is pale yellow and frothy, 30 to 40 seconds. Add 2 1/2 cups of the reduced veal stock and stir well with a whisk until the sauce thickens and comes to a boil, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and season the sauce with the salt and pepper. Whisk vigorously for about 10 seconds. Simmer gently, whisking the sauce from time to time, until the sauce is the consistency of heavy cream - about 5 minutes. Skim off any butter that comes to the surface.
Reduce the remaining 1/2 cup of reserved veal stock by boiling it over high heat until only a few teaspoons remain and whisk this intensely flavored "glaze" into the sauce. Remove the sauce from the heat.
In a small bowl, mix the egg yolks and cream together and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of the hot sauce (this will prevent the egg yolks from scrambling). Whisk the warmed egg yolk mixture into the rest of the sauce. Return the sauce to the heat and bring it just to a simmer, whisking constantly. Remove the sauce from the heat and pour it over the veal, onions, and morels. (The recipe can be prepared to this point as long as several days in advance. Cover the surface with plastic wrap, allow it to cool, and refrigerate.)
Before serving, reheat the veal and vegetables in a hot water bath (a "bain-marie" - that is, place the pan containing the sauced veal and vegetables in a larger pan filled halfway with hot water) maintain moderate heat either in the oven or on the stove top, gently stirring occasionally, until the sauce and veal are hot - 15 to 20 minutes.
*COOK’S NOTE: If morels are unavailable, you can always make the more usual version of this dish by using 3/4 pound regular mushrooms. Wash them and add at the point you would add the soaked morels. Fresh morels would be added at that point, as well.
**COOK’S NOTE: A BOUQUET GARNI CONSISTS OF:
5 sprigs parsley
1 bay leaf
2 to 3 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme)
all tied up in a celery stalk cut in half, or bundled (including the celery stalk) in a piece of cheesecloth, double thickness.
The reason for tying the ingredients together is to enable you to discard them easily once the cooking is finished. If you plan to strain the stock or sauce in which the bouquet garni has been cooking, it is not necessary for you to tie up the ingredients, although it makes skimming easier.
Place the fresh or dried thyme in the hollow of the celery stalk half and cover with the bay leaf and parsley sprigs.
Cover with the remaining celery stalk half and tie together. Or tie in a piece of cheesecloth, as described.
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Variations:
Blanquette de Volaile aux Morilles (Boneless Chicken Stew with Wild Mushrooms): Substitute, for the veal, 2 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks. After bringing the water covered chicken to a boil, immediately reduce the heat and skim as directed for veal (there will be less to skim), add the reserved morel soaking liquid, the peeled onion studded with whole cloves, the carrot, leeks, turnip, celery, bouquet garni, and pearl onions and simmer for 35 minutes, or until the pearl onions are tender. Add the morels about halfway through this simmering period (after about 15 -20 minutes), and proceed as in the recipe above, to reduce the cooking liquid and make the sauce.
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Recipe adapted from: At Home with the French Classics, by Richard Grausman (Workman) |
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