Old Fashioned Veal Stew with Cream Sauce
Submitted by roydee
Old-fashioned veal stew is the French classic blanquette de veau: blanched veal gently simmered with pearl onions, mushrooms, and chicken stock, finished with a velvety egg-yolk and cream velouté sauce.
YIELD
10 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
2 hrsREADY
2 hrsThis is blanquette de veau, the classic French “white stew” that predates every other cream-sauced meat dish worth eating. The name refers to the color, since the veal never gets browned. Instead it gets blanched briefly in boiling water, then rinsed, then simmered in a bath of chicken stock with carrots, onion, celery, leek, and herbs until fork-tender.
The finish is where this earns its legendary status. After the veal cooks, the stock gets reduced by half, thickened with a butter-flour roux, and then tempered with egg yolks and cream to create a sauce so silky and rich it feels formal. Tempering the yolks is the one step home cooks dread, but it’s simple if you add hot sauce to the yolks gradually rather than dumping yolks into a hot pot.
Small pearl onions and sauteed mushrooms join at the end, keeping their texture intact against the tender meat.
Chef Tips
- Don’t skip the initial blanch. That one-minute boil and rinse is what gives blanquette its characteristic pale color and tender texture.
- Strain the stock through a fine sieve before reducing. Fibers and bits left in the stock turn the sauce grainy.
- Temper the egg yolks by whisking hot sauce into them a tablespoon at a time at first. Rushing this scrambles the yolks.
- Serve over rice pilaf or buttered egg noodles to catch every drop of that sauce.
Variations
- Swap veal for chicken thighs for an easier, budget-friendly version with similar technique.
- Add a splash of dry white wine to the stock for a brighter, more acidic finish.
- Stir in a tablespoon of Dijon mustard with the cream for extra complexity.
Ingredients
Directions
In a heavy casserole, blanch the veal by covering with cold water, bringing it to a boil over high heat and boiling for one minute.
Drain, and rinse under cold water.
Return the veal to the casserole (which has been wiped clean) and add 6 cups of the chicken stock, carrots, onion, celery, leek, herbs and salt.
The meat should be covered in liquid; if not, add more water.
Bring to a boil and simmer over moderate heat partially covered for 1 to 1½ hrs until the meat is tender.
Meanwhile, combine ⅔ cups of the chicken stock, 2 TB of butter and the white onions in a skillet.
Bring to a boil and simmer 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove with a slotted spoon to a bowel.
Stir the mushrooms and lemon juice to the remaining liquid in skillet.
Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
With a slotted spoon, remove the mushrooms to the bowel with the onions.
Pour all remaining liquid into the simmering veal.
When the veal is done, remove from casserole.
Strain the stock through a fine sieve, return to casserole and boil until reduced to ½.
In a small saucepan, melt 3 TB of butter and stir in flour.
Cook this “roux” for 2 minutes and remove from heat.
Pour the reduced stock in and blend with a whisk.
Then return it to the heat, and cook stirring constantly until the sauce comes to a boil and thickens.
Simmer for about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat.
In a bowl whisk together egg yolks and cream.
Whisk in the hot sauce 2 TB at a time until ½ cup has been added.
Then reverse the process and whisk the egg-cream-sauce mixture into the hot sauce.
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