RECIPE

Blanquette de Veau

• Recipe by Christopher Gross

Ingredients

1. 3 pounds boneless veal shoulder, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
2. 1 clove
3. 2 onions, cut crosswise into halves
4. 1 1/2 quarts Veal or Chicken Stock, or canned low-sodium chicken broth
5. 10 peppercorns
6. 1 bouquet garni: 6 parsley stems, 3 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried, and 1 bay leaf
7. 2 teaspoons salt
8. 10 ounces small white onions, about 1 inch in diameter, peeled
9. 3/4 pound mushrooms, quartered if large
10. 3 cups heavy cream
11. 15 tablespoons butter
12. 3 tablespoons flour
13. 5 tablespoons water
14. 3 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
15. 1 tablespoon chopped shallot or scallion
16. 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon, or 2 teaspoons dried
17. 2 egg yolks

Directions

1. Put the veal in a large pot of cold water. Bring to a boil. Continue boiling for 1 minute. Drain and rinse the meat with cold water. Rinse the pot.
2. Return the blanched veal to the pot. Press the clove into 1 onion half and add to the veal with the remaining onion halves, stock, peppercorns, bouquet garni and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt. Bring to a simmer over moderately high heat, reduce the heat and cook the veal at a bare simmer until the meat is almost tender, about 1 hour. 
3. Add the small onions and cook 15 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until the veal is tender, about 15 minutes longer. Strain the stew. Discard the onion halves, peppercorns and bouquet garni. 
4. Return the stock to the pot and boil until reduced to 3 cups. Add the cream and simmer until the sauce is reduced to 4 1/2 cups, about 10 minutes. 
5. In a medium saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter over moderately low heat. Whisk in the flour. Cook, whisking constantly, for about 2 minutes. Whisk in the reduced stock mixture. Bring the sauce to a boil, whisking constantly, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the veal and vegetables to the sauce and set aside. 
6. For the béarnaise, melt the remaining 12 tablespoons butter. In a small heavy saucepan, combine 4 tablespoons of the water, the vinegar, shallot and 1 tablespoon of the fresh tarragon or all of the dried. Bring to a boil and cook until the liquid is reduced to 1/4 cup, about 3 minutes. Strain and reserve. 
7. In the same saucepan, beat the egg yolks and remaining tablespoon water. Whisk in the reserved vinegar mixture. Whisk over the lowest possible heat until the mixture is thick and frothy, about 7 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the butter in a slow stream, whisking constantly so that the butter is absorbed by the yolks to form a sauce. Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and the remaining tablespoon fresh tarragon, if using. 
8. Reheat the stew and stir in the béarnaise sauce. Do not bring the stew back to a boil or it may curdle. 
9. shortcut 
10. Chefs have resources that the home cook can only dream of. One of which, of course, is many hands in the kitchen. A restaurant also generally has several sauces ready for the various dishes on the menu, and combining them is a simple matter. So stirring béarnaise into a stew shortly before sending it to the table is no problem. For this recipe from a fine chef, making béarnaise sauce at the last minute is well worth the effort. If it seems too troublesome, though, you can get close to the same effect by first thickening the blanquette in the traditional way (whisk some of the hot sauce into two egg yolks and then, over the lowest possible heat, whisk the mixture into the remaining sauce) and when you're ready to serve, adding 2 tablespoons tarragon and a teaspoon or so of vinegar. 
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