A Note on Blanquette

This is not a recipe or even a detailed description. But there’s enough here to start you thinking about how you might adapt this dish to ingredients you have on hand. Perhaps at some stage I shall offer a formal recipe.

Blanquette de veau is a classic veal (or occasionally lamb) stew of great delicacy and a very particular flavor. In the versions I have in mind, the chunks of veal are not browned, and traditionally no stock is used, at least when the dish is made at home rather than in a restaurant: The meat and aromatic vegetables simmer in water until the veal is tender. This creates the veal broth from which a sauce is made, first, slightly thickened with a butter-and-flour roux, then finished at the last minute with a liaison of egg yolks and cream. It is a little old-fashioned, though it is seen occasionally and there are hints of a revival.

Jackie and I had a yen for blanquette last week but, shamefully, had no veal in the house. In the freezer, we did have a chicken breast, and we also had a carrot, a celery root and a few mushrooms, plus herbs. Crucially, we also had some chicken stock. That’s what made our blanquette-like dinner possible: Chunks of chicken breast would poach in five minutes, nowhere nearly enough time for them to turn water to broth. Simmering the vegetables, then the chicken in that stock did indeed enrich it, and it ended up beautifully flavorful.

Something like a blanquette, with chicken breast

Once all the ingredients were cooked, I set them aside, made a flour-and-butter roux and whisked in the strained broth to form a lightly thickened sauce base. I simmered this for a few minutes and checked for seasoning. When it was the dinner hour, by which time I’d made a pot of rice, I reheated the chicken and vegetables in the sauce. In a bowl, I whisked together an egg yolk and about 1/3 cup (80 ml) cream, stirred in a bit of sauce hot from the saucepan and returned the mixture to the pan, stirring it to combine over very low heat, then off the heat, for 20 seconds or a little longer, enough time for the egg yolk and cream to enrich and further thicken the sauce slightly. I finished it with tarragon.

Somehow, even though it took only about 20 minutes to make, this provided a satisfying blanquette experience and opened the door to all sorts of other dishes using the technique. Looking ahead a few months, I’m thinking of spring-summer vegetables (possibly still using chicken stock, but maybe just vegetable stock).