It’s that time, the weather is crisp and it snowed overnight leaving enough of a dusting throughout Paris to make traffic just a little more unbearable. The great Gods of French cuisine, of comfort food and home cooked meals “chez nous” have been calling me much like the Sirens in Greek mythology. I can no longer ignore their whispered chants “Blanquette–Blanquette–Blanquette” taunting as if I wouldn’t dare rise to the challenge, take up my whisk in one hand, carving knife in the other and attempt to recreate one of the finest meals I can ever remember having growing up in Paris. We would wait to gather around the table for what seemed like hours and all the while smelling incredible aromas. How many times was I shooed out of the kitchen? I lost count but returned determined not to leave empty handed. My father, with his nose deep in the Herald Tribune, would occasionally shout out words of encouragement “my that smells good, do you need any help?” words meant to hurry the process along, please! My older brothers would poke their heads in the living room or the kitchen and complain about why was dinner taking so long? We all waited and waited. The clock struck slowly seven times. Then we heard those magical words “everybody sit down to table please.” I don’t think we had super-human powers but I believe we flew to our chairs.
So there we were, tout le monde à table, waiting for kitchen door to swing open et voila, the Master Chef of the house and resident culinary genius made her grand entrance with the Blanquette!! Our little noses inched towards the dish taking in every possible savory moment. My mother made humble excuses that she wasn’t sure if it was as good as the last, maybe it needed more salt? The sauce had decided to be problematic, was it still good? We knew better. As we sat around the table, the only sound was the occasional clinking of silverware against the china plates. We were all so engrossed in savouring our meal. At that very moment there was nothing better in the world.
Blanquette de Veau
(thanks to Gourmet Magazine)
Ingredients:
2 3/4 pound veal breast (bone in)
1 pound boneless veal shoulder, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 1/2 quarts water
6 fresh parsley sprigs
2 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
4 black peppercorns
2 onions, halved
4 carrots, quartered crosswise
1 leek (white and pale green parts only), halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter1/2 pounds mushrooms, quartered
For sauce
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons crème fraîche
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Directions:
Stew meat and vegetables: Cut meat away from veal breastbone, reserving bone, and cut meat into 2-inch pieces.
Bring veal breast and shoulder, veal bone, and water to a boil over moderate heat in a 7- to 8-quart heavy pot, skimming froth. While water is heating, wrap parsley, thyme, bay leaf, and peppercorns in a small square of cheesecloth and tie into a bundle to make a bouquet. Add bouquet garni and onions to pot and simmer, uncovered, until veal is tender, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.
Preheat oven to 300°F.
Transfer veal with a slotted spoon to a heatproof serving dish and keep warm in oven, covered with foil.
Discard veal bone, onions, and bouquet garni, then pour stock through a fine sieve into a large bowl.
Return stock to cleaned pot, add carrots and leek, and simmer until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer vegetables to serving dish. Boil stock until reduced to about 2 1/2 cups, about 10 minutes.
While stock is reducing, heat butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then cook mushrooms, stirring, until just tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to serving dish and season veal and vegetables with salt and pepper. Keep warm in oven.
Make sauce: Melt butter in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, then stir in flour. Cook roux, stirring, 3 minutes (do not let brown). Whisk in reduced stock and simmer, uncovered, whisking occasionally, 15 minutes. Whisk together yolks and crème fraîche in a small bowl, then whisk in 1 cup sauce. Whisk yolk mixture into remaining sauce with lemon juice, then cook over moderately low heat (do not let boil), stirring constantly, until it reaches 160°F on an instant-read thermometer and coats back of a wooden spoon.
Season sauce with salt and pepper and pour over veal and vegetables.
Now about those wines…
Now wouldn’t you just know it? A stroke of good luck is what I would call it. This weekend I just happened to stumble upon a wine tasting! How unusual for me as I would normally be found chopping logs, and tilling the field and driving fence posts. Hardly. C’est pas moi! So here are a couple of fine wines, nothing you are going fine a Sothebys or a nose in the air crowd. Solid wines for a solid meal. Merci!
2010 Domaine de Bertier Sauvignon Blanc Viognier – Cotes de Thongue. Great little mix which offers crisp, clean aromas and flavors of lemons, pineapples, peaches and melons. I don’t believe your guests will recoil in horror, shriek at the very audacity. Remember why you have that 45 under the table?
2010 Chabert Roussanne – Languedoc Roussillon. Tons of peaches and apricots on the nose with more fruit flavors and fresh apples on the palate. Yum (that’s French “darn this baby sure is goood!”)
2009 Le Roc Blanc – Coteaux de Languedoc. Call me a man of simple tastes but I sure did enjoy this humble little vintage. Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre dancing together. Aroma notes of cocoa and spice. A long rich finish. I like that in a wine or whatever.
2007 Chateau Haut Vignols – Corbieres. What more can one really say other than “it’s a Corbieres.” On the palate you are knocked over with dark fruits, cocoa, grilled almonds and a delicate hint of oak.
As they say…OMG.