Blanquette de Veau — White Veal Stew with Cream and Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg veal shoulder and breast, cut into 5 cm pieces
• 1.5 litres white veal or chicken stock
• 1 onion, peeled and stuck with 2 cloves
• 1 bouquet garni
• 1 carrot, whole, peeled
• For the velouté
• 50 g unsalted butter
• 50 g plain flour
• 800 ml strained cooking liquid, from braising the veal
• For the garnish
• 20 pearl onions, glazed à blanc
• 250 g button mushrooms, cooked à blanc in water, butter, lemon juice, and salt
• For the liaison
• 3 egg yolks
• 150 ml double cream
• 1 tsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed; to taste
• 1 tsp fine salt, to season the braising liquid

Method

1. 1
   Place the veal pieces in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring slowly to a simmer over medium heat. Skim the grey foam meticulously and continuously for 10–15 minutes as the proteins coagulate and rise to the surface. Drain the meat, then rinse each piece under cold running water. The water runs clear when the surface impurities have been removed.
2. 2
   Return the blanched veal to a clean pot. Cover with 1.5 litres of white veal or chicken stock. Add the clove-stuck onion, bouquet garni, carrot, and salt. Bring to the gentlest possible simmer — the surface should barely tremble, not roll. Maintain this heat for 1.5–2 hours. The veal is done when a piece yields to gentle pressure but holds its shape without falling apart.
3. 3
   Remove the veal and set aside. Strain the cooking liquid through a fine sieve; reserve 800 ml for the velouté. In a clean, heavy saucepan, melt 50 g of butter over low heat and whisk in 50 g of flour. Cook the roux for 3 minutes, stirring constantly, without allowing any colour to develop whatsoever — it must remain perfectly white. This is where the dish lives or dies: a roux that takes on even the faintest gold will irrevocably tint the finished sauce and betray the dish's essential pale character.
4. 4
   Gradually whisk the 800 ml of warm, strained cooking liquid into the white roux, adding it in a slow, steady stream to prevent lumps. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 20 minutes, skimming away the skin that forms on the surface at intervals. The velouté is ready when it coats the back of a spoon in an even, unbroken layer and carries no raw-flour taste.
5. 5
   In a bowl, whisk the 3 egg yolks together with the 150 ml of double cream. Temper the liaison by whisking in one full ladle of the hot velouté, then a second, before returning the mixture to the pot in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Heat gently to 82–84°C — never allow the sauce to boil after the liaison has been added. The sauce thickens perceptibly and takes on a smooth, ivory-satin sheen; a thermometer confirms the temperature has not exceeded 84°C.
6. 6
   Add a squeeze of lemon juice and stir to incorporate. Return the veal, glazed pearl onions, and à blanc mushrooms to the sauce and warm through gently without simmering. The finished blanquette is pale ivory throughout, the veal tender, the garnish white, and the sauce bright rather than heavy on the palate.