Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2 (93 page)

2)
Braising the veal

Salt and pepper

½ tsp tarragon, thyme, mixed Provençal herbs, or Italian seasoning

A covered flameproof casserole or baking dish that will just hold all the meat in one layer (or use two dishes)

4 to 5 cups “boiling” potatoes, peeled and cut into ⅛-inch slices

½ cup fresh, rather roughly minced parsley

½ cup dry white wine or dry white French vermouth

About 1 cup veal stock, chicken stock, or a combination of canned chicken and beef bouillon

Buttered aluminum foil

A bulb baster

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season veal with salt, pepper, and herbs, and arrange in one close layer in casserole with the onions and garlic, and half the browned, diced
lardons.
Strew the potatoes over the veal, seasoning each layer with salt, pepper, and a sprinkling of parsley. (You should have no more than ¾ inch of potatoes in all.) Pour in the wine, and enough stock or bouillon to come ⅓ the way up the potatoes. Spoon a tablespoon or 2 of the cooking fat over the potatoes (unless it has browned, in which case use melted butter). Sprinkle the remaining
lardon
bits over the potatoes, and bring contents of casserole to simmer on top of stove. Drape buttered foil over potatoes, cover casserole, and set in middle level of preheated oven. Bake for about an hour, or until both veal and potatoes are tender, basting several times with liquid in pan.

3)
Gratinéeing and serving

½ cup not-too-fine crumbs from nonsweetened, homemade-type white bread

⅓ cup finely grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese

Raise oven thermostat to 425 degrees. Taste cooking liquid and correct seasoning if necessary. Mix the crumbs and cheese together, and spread over the potatoes. Baste with juices in casserole and set in upper-third level of oven. Baste several times while juices boil down and thicken with the crumbs, and topping browns nicely; this will take 10 to 15 minutes.

Either serve from casserole or baking dish, or remove each piece of veal with its topping, and transfer to a hot platter; pour juices around.

(*)
AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE
: If you are not to serve immediately, let juices reduce and thicken a little less; keep warm, loosely covered with foil, on a hot-tray or 120-degree warming oven. Baste with more stock or with melted butter, if necessary, before serving.

Other ideas for veal chops and steaks

Starting out with the simple braise in the
Master Recipe
, you might stir the reduced cooking juices, Step 3, into a
pistou
flavoring
, or into the Provençal mixture of anchovies, capers, garlic, and parsley described in Volume I, page 324. Another idea would be to spread a
pipérade
of sautéed green peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and herbs over the braised veal; cover and let them warm together for a few minutes, then spoon on the sauce and serve. You could use the
pistouille
mixture
, of sautéed eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers in the same way. Finally, there is the always attractive garniture
bonne femme,
a combination of bacon
lardons,
partially cooked small onions, and blanched small potatoes, which you add to the veal the last half hour of braising so all finish their cooking together; for this, adapt the
poulet en cocotte bonne femme
recipe in Volume I, page 253.

VEAL STEWS

Ragoûts de Veau

Veal makes lovely stew, and it cooks in a little more than an hour. Volume I contains the well-known
blanquette de veau,
with its onions, mushrooms, and creamy sauce, as well as a hearty brown stew with tomatoes. Here are several more stews, including
ossobuco.

VEAL CUTS FOR STEWING

The part of the veal breast called “
plate
” is a favorite French stewing cut, but one that is not popular with all Americans because of the crunchy cartilage of the breast bone and rib ends. The shoulder-chop area, neck, and shoulder arm all give good stew meat, as do both front and hind shanks. The hind shank is the
ossobuco,
with the marrow bone, and the choicest; the front shank has more bone and the meat more separations; it requires half an hour longer cooking, but makes a good stew because of its gelatinous quality. (If the veal you buy is not of the palest and tenderest quality, the best way to cook it is by stewing or braising; the leg [round] can be used for boneless stewing meat in this case.)

A pound of boneless meat will serve 2 to 3 people, but you will need ¾ to 1 pound per person for bone-in meat. You may use a combination of both in any of the recipes except for
ossobuco,
but we shall usually specify boneless meat simply to eliminate cumbersome either-or choices. Bones, however, will add texture and flavor to the stew; if your meat is boneless it is a good idea to tie a cupful or so of chopped veal marrow and knuckle bones in washed cheesecloth, and simmer them with the meat.

  
RAGOÛT DE VEAU AUX CHAMPIGNONS

[Veal Stew with Tomatoes, Mushrooms, and Cream]

There are endless way of flavoring and finishing off a veal stew, because veal, like chicken, is amenable to infinite variety. Here is a Master Recipe for starting out the veal, and a number of ways to vary its presentation. Serve this with rice or pasta, and a fresh green vegetable or a salad. For wine, chose a light, young red like Beaujolais or Cabernet Sauvignon, or a rather strong, dry white of the Côtes-du-Rhône type.

For 4 to 6 people

1)
Browning the veal and the onions