Blanquette de Veau

Where This Goes Wrong

Chicken thighs make an excellent substitute — poach for 35 minutes rather than 75.

If the sauce ever threatens to break after the liaison, pull it off the heat and whisk in a tablespoon of cold cream.

The lemon at the end is not optional. Without acid the sauce reads flat and heavy.

How to Make Blanquette de Veau

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1. Cover the veal with cold water, bring to the boil and simmer 3 minutes. Drain and rinse the pieces well — this is the step that keeps the sauce white.

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2. Return the veal to the clean pan with the studded onion, carrots, leek, celery, bouquet garni and salt. Cover with fresh cold water by 3 cm.

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3. Bring to a bare simmer and cook, uncovered, skimming as needed, for 1 hour 15 minutes until the veal is tender but not falling apart.

   Mark done Start 1 hr timer

4. Meanwhile simmer the pearl onions and mushrooms separately in a little water with a knob of butter for 10 minutes, then set aside.

   Mark done Start 10 min timer

5. Lift out the veal. Strain the broth and measure out 800 ml; discard the poaching vegetables, which have given everything they have.

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6. Melt the butter, whisk in the flour and cook 2 minutes without colouring. Whisk in the hot broth in stages and simmer 10 minutes until it coats a spoon.

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7. Whisk the yolks and cream together. Take the sauce off the heat, ladle in a little hot sauce to temper the liaison, then stir it back in. Do not let it boil again.

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8. Return the veal, onions and mushrooms, add the lemon juice and white pepper, and warm through gently for 5 minutes before serving.

   Mark done Start 5 min timer

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What's Going On Here

Blanching the veal first and discarding that water removes the scum proteins that would otherwise cloud the sauce grey — a blanquette is judged on its whiteness. The liaison of yolk and cream is added off the heat because yolks scramble at 82°C / 180°F, well below a simmer.

Leftovers, Reheating and Keeping

Refrigerate up to 3 days. Reheat below a simmer only — boiling will curdle the egg liaison. Freezing is not recommended.

Ingredient Swaps

• In a sauce, full-fat crème fraîche can usually take the place of the double cream; single cream is thinner and more likely to split if it boils, so keep it below a simmer.

Good With

• Steamed rice or buttered new potatoes
• A white Burgundy or dry Alsace Riesling
• Fresh baguette for the sauce

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: French Baguette, Fougasse, One Pot Ratatouille.

Nutrition per Serving

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.

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