by Julia Child
(*) AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTES: May be kept warm for a good half hour on a hot-tray or over simmering water. May be cooked a day before serving; when cold, spread plastic wrap over surface, cover, and refrigerate. When ready to serve, bring to simmer slowly, and simmer about 10 minutes, basting frequently, until thoroughly re-heated but not overcooked. If sauce seems too thick, thin out with stock or cream.
VARIATIONS
Ragoût de Veau, Printanier
[Veal Stew Garnished with Carrots, Onions, New Potatoes, and Green Peas]
When all the vegetables are fresh, this is delicious indeed and very attractive to serve because of the various colors. If you are cooking and serving with no delay, the vegetables may do all of their simmering in the stew, and you add them at different times, according to how long they take to cook. Otherwise do as suggested here, giving them a separate start, and letting them finish off in the stew just before serving; in this method, you may prepare everything ahead except for the potatoes.
Follow method and ingredients for preceding Master Recipe, Steps 1 and 2, using only ½ cup of onions in Step 1, and omitting the garlic in Step 2. Meanwhile, prepare the following:
The carrots and onions
4 to 6 fine, fresh carrots
24 to 30 small, white, fresh onions ¾ to 1 inch in diameter
A heavy, covered saucepan
1 cup water
1½ Tb butter
½ tsp salt
Peel the carrots, halve or quarter them depending on size, and cut into 1½-inch lengths; trim edges to round them, if you wish. Drop onions into boiling water, boil 1 minute, drain, and slip off peel; pierce a cross ¼ inch deep in root ends for even cooking. Place carrots and onions in pan with the water, butter, and salt; cover and simmer slowly about 25 minutes, until just tender. Set aside.
The peas
1 to 1½ lbs. fresh peas (1 to 1½ cups, shelled)
A saucepan containing 3 quarts of rapidly boiling, salted water
Drop the peas into the rapidly boiling water, bring quickly back to the boil again, and boil uncovered 4 to 8 minutes or more, depending on tenderness. Test frequently by tasting; they should be almost, but not quite, done. Drain immediately, run cold water over them to stop the cooking and retain their fresh color; drain again and set aside.
The potatoes
About 2 lbs. new potatoes (or “boiling” potatoes) all of a size for easy cutting (2¾ to 3 inches long, for instance)
A bowl of cold water
When needed: a saucepan of boiling, salted water
Peel the potatoes and trim into ovals about 2¼ inches long and 1½ inches thick; drop into bowl of cold water and set aside. (About ½ hour before you plan to serve the stew, drain the potatoes and drop into boiling water to cover. Boil slowly, uncovered, until almost tender, drain and add to stew as indicated in last paragraph.)
Finishing the stew
If needed: more stock or bouillon
When veal is tender, tip pan and skim off surface fat. If sauce has reduced too much, add a little more stock or bouillon so that you will have enough liquid to cook and baste the vegetables.
About 10 minutes before serving, arrange the carrots, onions, potatoes, and peas in the casserole, pushing them gently down into the meat and cooking juices. Pour any cooking juices from carrots and onions over meat, and baste both meat and vegetables with juices in casserole. Bring to the simmer, cover closely, and simmer about 10 minutes, basting several times, until vegetables are tender. Correct seasoning. Either serve from casserole, or turn the stew out onto a hot platter.
Ossobuco—Jarret de Veau à la Provençale
[Braised Veal Shanks with Wine, Tomatoes, Lemon, and Orange]
Osso is bone and buco is round, meaning the shank with the round bone, which is the hind shank with the marrow bone. This favorite Italian veal stew is also done in France, and here is the Provençal version. Although you may use foreshanks, hind shanks are so much more attractive to serve because the bone is small and the meat holds around it nicely, that we counsel you to order hind shanks, and do the recipe when you have the right meat. Veal shanks, sawed into 1½-inch pieces and ready to cook, will freeze perfectly for several weeks; therefore pick up whatever you can whenever you can, and save all hind shanks for this really delicious recipe.
For 4 people—4 veal hind shanks, sawed into crosswise pieces 1½ inches thick
Season, flour, and brown the veal shanks; arrange in the braising liquid with the onions, garlic, tomatoes, and herbs as described in the Master Recipe, Steps 1 and 2. Then proceed as follows:
1 orange
1 lemon
A vegetable peeler
A saucepan containing a quart or so of boiling water
Cut the zests (colored parts of the peel) from the orange and lemon, then cut zests into julienne strips 1⁄16 inch wide. To remove bitterness (but none of the flavor), simmer 10 minutes; drain, refresh in cold water, drain again, and stir into the casserole with the veal stew.
Bring stew to simmer, cover casserole, and simmer either in a preheated 325-degree oven or on top of the stove for 1¼ hours, or until meat is tender when pierced with a fork. Do not overcook: meat must not come loose from bone. When tender, tip casserole and skim surface fat from cooking liquid. Set casserole over high heat, if necessary, and boil down sauce to concentrate flavor. Correct seasoning. Serve either from casserole, or on a hot platter. Decorate with parsley sprigs.
Other ideas
Use other veal stew meat, such as cuts from the shoulder or the leg, and give it the ossobuco flavoring. Vary the ossobuco recipe with olives: blanch a handful each of pitted green olives and pitted black olives for 10 minutes in a quart of boiling water; drain, and add to the stew the last 15 to 20 minutes of cooking. See also the variations at the end of beef stews, which include an herb, cheese, and garlic finish, another with anchovies and garlic, a pipérade with peppers and tomatoes, and a final one with olives and potatoes; any of these may be added to the cooked veal at the end of Step 2, Master Recipe, instead of the mushrooms and cream. You thus have a wide choice, and never need serve the same stew twice.
STUFFED BREAST OF VEAL
Poitrine de Veau, Farcie
Breast of veal boned, stuffed with a well-seasoned filling, braised, and sauced makes a handsome as well as tasty main-course party dish, and one that is far more reasonable in price than most. French and American meat cutting methods differ, and as we find the French version much the most attractive to serve, here is how to buy and prepare it. If you cannot have the butchering done properly for you, and if you enjoy working with meat yourself, you will find the whole breast not at all difficult to handle, and you may even be able to buy it at a far more interesting price than if it were boned and trimmed at the market.
HOW TO BUY A BREAST OF VEAL
In America, a breast of veal (or of lamb) comprises the whole brisket-plate section. From a large, pale, prime carcass of veal, such as you can find in France and in some markets here, this will weigh 7 to 7½ pounds before boning and trimming. The boned brisket weighs 2½ pounds; the breastbone, 1 pound; the plate and skirt (flap of meat falling over ribs), with the ribs and cartilage, 3½ pounds. It is the boned brisket that is stuffed for French recipes; a 2½-pound brisket, stuffed, will be 12 inches long, 7 to 8 inches across, and can easily serve 8 people.
Adapt whatever you find to the general idea of the recipe even if your market does not carry breasts of the desired weight, or follows different cutting methods. You might, for instance, sew or skewer 2 plates together for stuffing, or 2 briskets, if they are smaller than you think they should be. If you have trouble making your wishes known, show your butcher this picture; he might be willing to order one for you, and to prepare it according to your specifications.
Actually, the whole brisket-plate combination is a good buy because not only will you have the brisket to stuff, but you can also save the thick part of the plate for stew, you can grind the rest of the plate along with the skirt f
or your stuffing, and when you boil up the breastbone and ribs, you will have a fine veal stock for braising the poitrine farcie.
FRENCH TERMINOLOGY
Brisket is poitrine, and the poitrine also includes the skirt, hampe; ask for a poitrine de veau désossée, avec poche. The plate is called tendron, and is a favorite French cut for blanquette de veau, particularly the thick part containing the breastbone cartilage.
DIRECTIONS FOR THE HOME BUTCHER
NOTE: In the drawing, the breast has been separated in two—the right-hand piece, minus leg bones, is the brisket; the left-hand piece the plate.
To bone the whole breast, start with the breastbone (right side in drawing), which is attached to the ribs by cartilages: first, place the meat rib-side up, with the breastbone hanging over the edge of the table. Lean hard on the bone to break it from the cartilages at the rib ends, then cut around its ridges and follow its cartilaginous prolongation into the plate, to remove the entire bone from the meat. The next step is to separate the brisket from the plate: slice through the meat between ribs 5 and 6 to make 2 pieces, as in the drawing. Slice off the skirt, a flap of meat on the rib side, attached to the thick part of the plate. Remove the rib bones from both brisket and plate by cutting first around them, then underneath each bone to loosen it from the meat. The thick part of the plate that contained the prolongation of the breastbone (bottom left in drawing) can make an excellent stew for 2 people; cut it off from the rest of the plate, and freeze it for another meal. Trim excess fat off brisket with a long, sharp knife. Then carefully slice a pocket in the brisket (right-hand piece), going in from the large or plate end; the brisket will now be like a pouch, and you will close it by sewing or skewering after you stuff it. Scrape usable meat from membranes covering plate and skirt, and grind it. Chop up the breastbone, and brown bones and scraps half an hour in a 450-degree oven with a sliced carrot and onion; then simmer for 3 to 4 hours in water, herbs, and seasonings to make a simple but delicious veal stock (detailed directions are in Volume I, pages 107–11).
POITRINE DE VEAU, FARCIE
[Breast of Veal Stuffed and Braised—Hot or Cold]
Green stuffings provide attractive serving slices and should be made of chard leaves, if you can find them; spinach, if you cannot. The rest of the stuffing consists of boiled rice, ground veal, a little ham, and a bit of onion. There is no pork here, no garlic, and the delicate taste of the veal does seem to come through beautifully. Accompany the dish with braised onions and carrots or baked tomatoes. A not too heavy red wine would be the one to choose, like a Bordeaux, a young Beaujolais, or a Cabernet Sauvignon; a rosé would also go well. Serve cold breast of veal with sliced tomatoes, the French potato salad, pommes a l’huile, Volume I, page 541, and either a rosé or a dry white from the Rhône like Chante Alouette.
For 8 people
1) Chard or spinach stuffing with rice, veal, and ham—4 cups
¼ cup rendered fresh pork fat, ham fat, or chicken or goose fat
½ cup finely minced onions
A medium (10-inch) frying pan, enameled or no-stick
4 or 5 large, green chard leaves minus white part of stalks (or 1 cup cooked, chopped spinach or ¾ package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry)
The bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, or a large mixing bowl and wooden spoon
Salt
¾ cup boiled rice (¼ cup plain, raw, white rice boiled 12 minutes in 1 quart of salted water, and drained)
1 to 1½ cups lean raw veal finely ground with ½ cup lean mild-cured boiled ham (supermarket ham slice)
½ to ⅔ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 “large” egg
Large pinch grated nutmeg
¼ tsp pepper
Melt the fat in the frying pan, stir in the onions, cover, and cook slowly, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes, until tender and just beginning to brown lightly. Set aside. Meanwhile blanch the chard leaves in a large kettle of boiling salted water for 3 to 4 minutes, until wilted; drain, refresh in cold water, squeeze hard to rid leaves of water, and chop moderately fine (¼-inch pieces). Blend chard (or spinach) into onions; stir over moderately high heat for a few moments to evaporate remaining liquid; cover and cook slowly several minutes more, until fairly tender. Season to taste and scrape into bowl. Vigorously beat in the boiled rice, ground meat, cheese, egg, nutmeg, and pepper. Sauté a small spoonful in frying pan until cooked through, taste carefully, and add more seasonings if you feel them necessary.
2) Stuffing the veal
A boned breast (brisket) of veal, weighing, if possible, around 2½ lbs. (See directions, description, and alternates.)
Salt and pepper
A trussing needle or small poultry-lacing skewers
White string
Open the pocket in the meat and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Insert the stuffing, pushing it well down into the meat, but do not overfill. Close opening of meat by sewing with string, or with skewers and string. If by chance you have pierced a hole in the surface of the meat, close it by sewing or skewering.
The ridged side, where the ribs were, is the underside; turn small end of the meat under and sew or skewer it in place, thus giving the veal a rectangular cushion shape about 12 inches long and 8 inches across. If meat seems solid and stuffing securely in place, tying is not necessary; otherwise, with string, make 2 loops around length and several around circumference, but do not tie too tightly. Dry the meat thoroughly before proceeding to next step.
(*) AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE: If you wish to prepare and refrigerate the veal the day before cooking, chill stuffing before inserting it into the meat, just to be sure and safe.
3) Browning and braising the veal—2½ hours
Rendered pork fat, goose fat, or cooking oil
A heavy casserole or roaster just large enough to hold veal comfortably (a 10- by 12-inch oval, for example)
½ cup each, roughly sliced carrots and onions
Optional but desirable, if you have no homemade veal stock: a cup or so of chopped veal bones
Salt
A bulb baster
1 cup dry white wine, or ¾ cup dry white French vermouth
2 to 3 cups homemade veal stock, or rich chicken stock, or a combination of canned beef bouillon and chicken broth
½ tsp thyme
1 imported bay leaf
A sheet of fresh pork fat or suet, or aluminum foil
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Film casserole with ⅛ inch of fat or oil; when very hot but not smoking, brown the vegetables and optional bones. Remove to a side dish, add more fat or oil if needed, and brown bottom (former rib side) of veal, lifting carefully from time to time with wooden spoon to be sure meat is not sticking. When browned, in 5 to 6 minutes, baste top with fat and set uncovered in upper-middle level of preheated oven for about 15 minutes, basting with fat in casserole several times, until top and sides of meat have browned nicely. Remove from oven; turn thermostat down to 350 degrees. Salt the meat lightly, strew the browned bones and vegetables around, pour in the wine and enough stock or bouillon to come ⅔ the way up the meat. Add the thyme and bay leaf, and drape the fat or foil over the meat.
Bring to the simmer on top of stove, cover the casserole, and braise in lower-middle level of oven, regulating heat so that liquid in casserole remains at a slow, even simmer. If meat is easy to turn, do so several times during cooking, replacing fat or foil on top; otherwise, baste every 20 minutes or so with the liquids in the casserole. Meat should be done in about 2 hours, when it feels tender if pierced with a fork. It should retain its shape perfectly; in other words, do not let it overcook.
4) Sauce and serving
A hot platter
A sieve set over a saucepan
Salt and pepper
If needed: 1 Tb cornstarch mixed to a paste with 2 Tb wine or vermouth
2 to 3 Tb soft butter
Parsley, watercress, or whatever vegetable garnish you have chosen
A warm sauce bowl
Remove vea
l to hot platter. Do not untie or unskewer it yet, but cover with its fat or foil, and set in turned-off oven, door ajar. Strain braising liquid into saucepan, pressing juices out of vegetables. Skim off surface fat, bring liquid to the simmer, skimming, and boil down rapidly, if necessary, to around 2 cups.
If sauce needs thickening, remove from heat, beat in the cornstarch mixture, and simmer 2 minutes. Carefully correct seasoning. Just before serving, remove from heat and beat in the enrichment butter a half a tablespoon at a time. Remove trussings from veal, spoon a little sauce over to glaze it, and decorate the platter as you wish. Pour remaining sauce into bowl. Serve immediately.
To carve, cut crosswise slices ⅜ to ½ inch thick, as though meat were a loaf of bread. Ring each slice with a spoonful or two of sauce.