On the prairie, we like our beef. But we like our beef BIG. Steaks, roasts, briskets. Big steaks, big roasts and big briskets. There are many farmers around our little town that raise cattle -- and that reads cattle not veal. Veal is a rarity on the prairie. It's hard to find and we do tend to get a bit excited when we find it, often buying up several packages to put in the freezer for there are many veal dishes that we do relish.It was a busy day yesterday but when I poked around the freezer to find something for dinner I did find a package of veal stew meat and remembered a recipe in a favorite cookbook of mine, Country Weekend Entertaining by Anna Pump. It was easy to put together and baked while I did other chores. Even though it was a warm day and it was a stew, the light and fresh flavors made it the perfect dish for a spring evening with storms threatening. My quest for veal continues and this dish will be on our table in the spring whenever I find it.
Blanquette of Veal with Spring vegetables
6 T. butter
4 c. finely chopped onions
3 pounds stewing veal, cut from shoulder, cubed
1/2 c. flour
1 cup dry white wine
3 1/2 c chicken stock
1 1/4 c. finely chopped celery
1 bouquet garni
1 T. kosher salt
2 t. freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups baby carrots, peeled and left whole
12 spring onions with about 3 inches of green left on
3/4 pound asparagus cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1/3 pound fresh spinach leaves
3 T. minced fresh parsley for garnish
Preheat oven to 375
Using a large stovetop to oven saucepan, melt the butter and saute the onion over medium heat for 5 min. Add the meat and, stirring a few times, let the mixture stew for 10 min. Do not let the veal brown. Add the flour and stir gently to combine. Add the wine, stock, celery, bouquet garni, salt and epper. Stir gently. Bring mixture to a boil Remove from the heat, coer tightly and bake for 1 hour. Add the baby carrots and spring onions an bake for another 30 min. Add the asparagus and spinach and bake for 15 min longer.
Sprinkle with parsley and serve hot.
1 comment:
Veal is one of my favorites, my children love when I prepare veal scallopini. Lemon, Capers or Veal Marsala is lovely too. Veal is hard to find in the center of the USA, the Beef Mecca. Glad to see that you are a Pioneering Woman. I was visiting my folks in Kentucky and had the darndest time trying to find veal and then asked the butcher to "butterfly to the chine"
He looked as if I were speaking another language. Where have all the good butchers gone. Perhaps I missed my calling.
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