Recipe: Blanquette de veau

Name: Blanquette de veau
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 135 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: served with Pilau Rice. An all time favorite.; For 6 guests :; 1,5 kg (3.25 lb) of veal shoulder (divided into approximately 18 pieces, 70 gr (2.5 oz) each); 3 veal ribs cut in half (for taste); 150 gr (5.25 oz) de carrots et 2 onions, diced; 2 garlic cloves, degermed and crushed; 1 bouquet garni; 100 gr (3.5 oz) of fine butter; For the garnish:250 grs small mushrooms (champignons de Paris); 200 gr (7 oz) of pearl onions; For the sauce:1,5 dl whipping cream; the juice of 1/2 a lemon80 gr (2.8 oz) of butter; 80 gr (2.8 oz) of flour; 3 egg yolks

By chef patrick Asfaux 4.9/5 (192 reviews) · 🍳 180 made it

Prep 45 min

Cook 90 min

Total 2h15

Servings 6 serv.

Blanquette of veal is 1.5 kg of farm-raised veal shoulder cut into 18 pieces of 70g each. Braised for 1 hour covered in a light broth with mirepoix, garlic and bouquet garni. The sauce is finished with egg yolks and cream, brightened with lemon. Served with pilaf rice, mushrooms and pearl onions as garnish.

Ingredients for 6 servings

Adjust for

servings

served with Pilau Rice. An all time favorite.
For 6 guests :
1,5 kg (3.25 lb) of veal shoulder (divided into approximately 18 pieces, 70 gr (2.5 oz) each)
3 veal ribs cut in half (for taste)
150 gr (5.25 oz) de carrots et 2 onions, diced
2 garlic cloves, degermed and crushed
1 bouquet garni
100 gr (3.5 oz) of fine butter

For the garnish:

250 grs small mushrooms (champignons de Paris)
200 gr (7 oz) of pearl onions

For the sauce:

1,5 dl whipping cream

the juice of 1/2 a lemon

80 gr (2.8 oz) of butter
80 gr (2.8 oz) of flour
3 egg yolks

Step-by-step directions

In the original recipe the veal pieces are generally immersed in cold waterand then cooked with their garnish. However, I would like to show you my personal recipe, which has proved to be successful many times. Go ahead and tell me if you liked it !

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the diced vegetables, the garlic and the bouquet garni. Cook covered during 5 min. Next, add the veal meat. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and keep cooking over low heat, covered.

Now that you are enjoying the nice smell of your kitchen, cover with water. Check the seasoning once the water starts boiling. Cook covered for 1 hour being careful to remove any impurities using a small ladle.

While this is cooking prepare your garnish: peel the mushrooms and wash them quickly. Do the same with the pearl onions. Sauté both of these ingredients on low heat, using some butter on a small skillet for 15 min, being careful not to brown them.

Remove the veal meat from its saucepan, as well as the bouquet garni. Blend the remaining vegetables and broth in order to obtain a sauce which you should then sieve.

Using the same saucepan in which the meat was cooked, melt 80 gr (2.8 oz) of butter and stir in the flour (making what wa call a white "roux"). Slowly stir in half of the veal stock, setting the other half aside for the rice.

Add the veal meat to this sauce. Add the garnish with its juices and bring to a boil.

Taste and check the seasoning.

Using a bowl, mix the egg yolks, the cream and the lemon juice stirring quickly. Add 2 full ladles of boiling sauce. Mix well and pour this over the blanquette.

WARNING: this should only be done just before serving so that the sauce does not boil again (to avoid the eggs from cooking).

Some other ideas for this recipe are: not using any onions or mushrooms, but blending in 400 gr (14 oz) of asparagus tips or 400 gr (14 oz) of peas and some spinach leaves into the sauce instead, just before serving... the absolute best is to add some morel mushrooms, which transform this dish into a royal delicacy.

Chef's tip

Blanquette of veal is a Sunday dish, the kind you cook when you have time on your hands. Historically it's 19th-century bourgeois cooking, the sort found in all the classic Parisian restaurants. It's come back into fashion over the past few years because cooks are rediscovering that well-treated white meat is never heavy. It's more of an autumn and winter dish, when pearl onions are at their best and button mushrooms become less dull. The shoulder meat gelatinizes during slow cooking, giving the sauce body without excess fat. Nothing like a heavy blanquette where everything floats in cream. For wine, go for a dry white with good structure: a Meursault, a Côtes du Jura blanc, or simply a good Chablis. Avoid light reds, the egg-yolk liaison doesn't work with them. A Corton-Charlemagne if you want to do the dish justice, otherwise a crisp Sancerre does the job nicely. For accompaniment, pilaf rice absorbs the sauce well. You can also serve with boiled potatoes or mashed potato, but pilaf rice is the classic version. Don't forget the bouquet garni during cooking: one bay leaf, thyme, parsley. That's the foundation.

Frequently asked questions

Why do you need to skim the blanquette during cooking?

Skimming removes the impurities and proteins that rise to the surface. It keeps the broth clear and the sauce smooth. Without it, you'll have a cloudy sauce with particles floating in it. Do it every 10 minutes throughout the hour of cooking.

Can you replace the liquid cream with milk or yogurt?

Skimmed milk works but the sauce will be thin. Prefer cream at 30% minimum or a half milk, half cream mixture. Yogurt would curdle with heat. The egg yolk liaison alone would work, but cream gives velvety texture. It's a matter of taste.

How long does blanquette of veal keep in the fridge?

Three days when properly stored in an airtight container. The sauce will gel when cold (normal, that's the collagen from the veal). Reheat gently for 15 minutes over a water bath or very low heat, don't rush it. It freezes well for 2 months, sauce and meat together.