Blanquette de Veau or French White Veal Stew, the history of this French recipe says that it was made from leftovers. Debra F.Weber in the “About” blog alludes this dish to the transformations of Cinderella. It indeed is, as it is made up of the simplest ingredients, but the classic culinary French techniques have molded the ingredients to a classic French delicacy. The delicacy is white in color, as it comes from the French word blanc, which means that in the stew the meat, onions and mushrooms are all covered in a typical white sauce.
In the first step, the veal stock is prepared, the first stock is drained out, the veal meat is again simmered in chicken stock, onion studded with cloves, carrot, quartered, along with the herb bouquet (parsley, bay leaf , thyme and celery stalks) , which are introduced in the pan, after keeping them in the cheesecloth bag. Then the whole onions are rolled in a saucepan with butter and white stock taking care that onions retain their color and their shape. The tender veal is set kept in a colander set over the bowl and the veal is put back in the casserole after taking out the extra bones. Then the cooked onions are placed on top of the cooked veal.
The second phase of cooking involves making the white sauce. In a heavy skillet, butter is melted and flour I roasted in it. Once brown, the white stock is stirred and whipped continuously to avoid lumps, mushroom caps, salt, pepper and lemon juice is added at the end is simmered for ten minutes. Now pour this sauce over the veal meat adding two spoonfuls of cream to prevent the formation of skin. After sometime, whip three egg yolks with and fold in by spoonfuls one cup of the hot sauce. Then pour the mixture into the casserole, tilting it and basting the veal and vegetables to blend the rest of the sauce with the egg-yolk mixture. The mixture is to be heated over moderate heat taking care that the sauce does not become very thick…this is not meat in white sauce; this is French White Veal Stew.
This might have given you an idea how long and complicated it is to make an ethnic French delicacy. It will take sometime to master over the sauces, and other stock-making techniques, but your Christmas Dinner will go boom with this exotic, creamy and meaty delicacy.
Thanks About.Com
