Each of us certainly has his Madeleine de Proust and if it is a simmered dish that is part of what should be called bourgeois cuisine, many remember the veal blanquette so delicious that they savored when they were younger:it couldn't have stood the comparison with frozen meals in the microwave or any quick recipe that didn't simmer enough, it was so much above it… Here's a recipe.
For such a dish to be good, and as good as your memories, you need good ingredients, quality meat and vegetables, not to mention whole, non-light cream:there is no secret for the veal blanquette to be delicious, the first attention to have is based on the choice of ingredients that deserve your requirement. Stock up on vegetables from your local market gardener, organic if possible, and buy the meat from a local breeder since more and more of them, especially organic ones, are offering boxes of assorted meat. Better to eat less often but it is excellent. Then it is better to use a cast iron casserole.
The cast iron, alloy of iron and carbon, allows on the one hand, a good diffusion of the heat on all the surface of the casserole, and on the other hand, a durable inertia which makes possible the soft and long cooking, all that than a simmered dish like veal blanquette requires. In addition, if your casserole has a lid whose interior is dotted with spikes to facilitate the fall of droplets of steam, you will not fear that what is cooking sticks to the bottom. The meat will remain tender and the sauce creamy.
The vintage side of the cast iron casserole adapted to the authentic cuisine of our grandmothers does not prevent it from being used on all modern cooking surfaces, including induction.
In a cast iron casserole dish, heat a little oil to brown the minced onion, adding the pieces of veal and the carrots cut into slices. Stir frequently to prevent the meat from browning. Sprinkle the flour over the pieces of veal and mix, letting it cook for a few minutes.
When all the pieces of veal have been seared, pour hot water over the meat, add the white wine, the small bunch of parsley tied with twine, the celery stick, salt and pepper . Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 2 hours over very low heat.
Meanwhile, clean and slice the leeks. Sweat them with a little butter, over low heat, in a covered sauté pan.
Cut off the earthy stem of the mushrooms, wash them, cut them into 4 and lemon them immediately by mixing them with 1/2 lemon juice so that they remain white. Heat a knob of butter in a small pan and sauté the mushrooms over high heat.
When the leeks are cooked, you can pour in the mushrooms and mix, then add salt and pepper. Book.
After 2 hours of cooking the meat, remove the bunch of parsley, then you can add the leeks and mushrooms.
Add the fresh cream and mix. In a small bowl, mix the egg yolk with the remaining ½ lemon juice. Add this preparation out of the heat just before serving this old-fashioned veal blanquette in a very hot deep dish so that it does not cool too quickly.
Accompany with a little rice, fresh tagliatelle or a garden of vegetables. And serve a balanced white wine with good acidity, such as a Chardonnay in Chablis or a Pinot Gris from Alsace, a Riesling, a Côtes-du-Jura, a Graves, an Anjou, for example, but forget the red wines.
