Blanquette de Veau

Ingredients

• 1 kg boneless veal shoulder or breast, cut into 4cm cubes
• 1 large onion, peeled and studded with 2 cloves
• 2 carrots, peeled and halved
• 1 leek, white part only, split and washed
• 1 celery stick
• 1 bouquet garni (thyme, bay leaf, parsley stalks)
• 1.2 litres light chicken or veal stock
• 250g button mushrooms, halved
• 250g pearl onions, peeled
• 65g unsalted butter
• 50g plain flour
• 2 egg yolks
• 150ml double cream
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• Salt and white pepper
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley, to serve

Before you cook

• Cut the veal into four-centimetre cubes and trim off any hard sinew.
• Peel the onion and press the two cloves into it.
• Split the leek lengthways and wash the grit out from between the layers.
• Tie the thyme, bay and parsley stalks into a bouquet garni.
• Cover the pearl onions with just-boiled water for a minute, then peel them.
• Separate the egg yolks into a small bowl.

Steps

1. Put the veal in a large pot, cover it with cold water, and bring it slowly to the boil.
2. Drain the veal into a colander and rinse the pieces under cold running water to wash off the scum.
3. Wash out the pot and return the rinsed veal to it.
4. Pour over the stock so the meat is covered by about two centimetres.
5. Add the clove-studded onion, carrots, leek, celery and bouquet garni, and season with a good pinch of salt.
6. Bring to a bare simmer with barely a bubble breaking the surface, cover partly, and cook for one hour and fifteen minutes until the veal is fork-tender.
7. Melt fifteen grams of the butter in a frying pan over medium heat and cook the mushrooms with a squeeze of lemon for five minutes, keeping them pale.
8. Tip the mushrooms into a bowl.
9. Put the pearl onions in a small pan with fifteen grams of butter, the sugar, a pinch of salt and enough water to half cover them.
10. Simmer the onions for twelve minutes until tender and glossy but still white.
11. Lift the veal out of its broth with a slotted spoon into a warm bowl and cover it.
12. Strain the broth through a sieve into a jug and throw away the vegetables and herbs.
13. Melt the remaining thirty-five grams of butter in the empty pot over medium heat and stir in the flour.
14. Cook the roux for two minutes, stirring constantly, without letting it take any colour.
15. Pour in the hot broth a ladle at a time, whisking hard after each addition until smooth.
16. Simmer the sauce gently for ten minutes, stirring, until it thickly coats a spoon.
17. Whisk the egg yolks and cream together in a bowl.
18. Ladle a little of the hot sauce into the yolk mixture and whisk it in to warm it through.
19. Pour the warmed yolk mixture back into the pot and stir over the lowest heat for two minutes, never letting it boil.
20. Return the veal, mushrooms and onions to the sauce and warm everything through for five minutes.
21. Season with salt, white pepper and lemon juice until the sauce tastes rich but lifted.
22. Scatter with parsley and serve with plain rice or steamed potatoes.