Poitrine de Veau Farcie

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •5-quart (4.7-liter) oval cocotte or Dutch oven with a tight lid
• •Sharp boning knife, unless the butcher prepares the pocket
• •Six to eight sturdy toothpicks or small metal skewers and butcher's twine
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Pastry brush

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the pocket

   Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Ask the butcher to bone the breast and cut a deep pocket through its thickest edge without opening the ends. Check the pocket with your fingers, feeling for thin spots or stray fragments of bone, then dry the meat thoroughly inside and out. If you must cut it yourself, hold a sharp boning knife parallel to the board and work inward with shallow strokes; stop well before the far edge.

2. 2

   Mix the farce

   Combine the chilled Pork Forcemeat for Divers Uses (No. 196), dry duxelles, softened butter, chopped parsley, tarragon and chives, and beaten half egg. Fry a teaspoonful until fully cooked and taste it before adding any of the reserved salt and pepper, because the finished forcemeat is already seasoned. The farce should hold together softly without flowing. If it has warmed and gone slack, don't thicken it with breadcrumbs; chill it for twenty minutes. Ça se rattrape.

3. 3

   Fill and close

   Spread the farce evenly into every part of the pocket, leaving about ¾ inch (2 cm) clear at the opening. Do not ram it tight; the filling expands as its egg sets, and an overfilled breast splits. Close the seam with six to eight toothpicks or small metal skewers placed across the opening, then lace butcher's twine around them in a figure eight. If the seam strains, remove a spoonful of farce and close it again. Count the fasteners now so every one can be removed before serving.

   The filling should reach the corners without becoming compact. An evenly spread farce gives every slice its proper center and lets the joint keep its shape.
4. 4

   Brown the breast

   Season the exterior with 1 teaspoon of the salt and the remaining pepper. Melt the browning butter in a snug heavy cocotte over medium heat. When its foam subsides, brown the breast patiently on its broad faces and along the edges, about twelve minutes in all. The fond, the concentrated brown film on the pot floor, is the foundation of the glaze. If the butter darkens too quickly, lower the heat and keep the joint moving; black butter gives bitterness, not depth.

5. 5

   Add short moistening

   Lift the browned breast onto a plate. Add 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g) of the stock to the cocotte and scrape the floor clean with a wooden spoon. Return the breast with its seam uppermost, then add only enough additional stock to reach the lower third of the joint. This is the principle of the dish: a shallow moistening braises the veal while preserving enough concentration for glazing. Bring the liquid only to a bare simmer and cover tightly.

6. 6

   Braise very gently

   Transfer the covered cocotte to the oven and braise for 2¾ to 3 hours. Baste the exposed surface every forty-five minutes, keeping the liquid at a quiet tremble. If it boils, lower the oven by 25°F (15°C); if the pot threatens to dry below a shallow layer, add reserved stock ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g) at a time. The breast is ready when a skewer enters the veal with little resistance and the center of the farce registers at least 160°F (71°C). Tenderness and temperature must agree.

7. 7

   Rest and reduce

   Lift the breast onto a rack set over a tray, cover it loosely, and rest it for twenty minutes so the farce firms enough to slice. Skim excess fat from the cocotte, then boil the braising juices steadily until they become glossy and lightly syrupy, coating a spoon instead of running from it like broth. This is the saucier's job translated to one pot. If the reduction tightens or tastes too salty, loosen it with a spoonful of unsalted stock.

8. 8

   Glaze and carve

   Heat the broiler. Brush the breast generously with the reduced juices and set it beneath the heat for one to two minutes, watching without interruption. Brush and glaze once or twice more until the surface is burnished and glossy. If an edge catches, move it away from the heat and soften the spot with warm stock. Remove every toothpick or skewer and all the twine, then carve the breast across the grain into thick slices. Spoon the remaining juices around them and serve with a vegetable purée. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Call the butcher ahead and ask for a boned center section of veal breast with a pocket cut through the thickest edge, leaving the other three sides intact. This small service replaces an awkward piece of home butchery and gives the stuffing somewhere secure to live.
• •Use Pork Forcemeat for Divers Uses (No. 196) as the finished component the book calls for, and keep it cold until mixing. Its own formula controls the pork, fat, egg, and seasoning; rebuilding it inside this recipe would disturb the proportions.
• •The duxelles must be genuinely dry. Press a spoon against it in the pan: if liquid gathers, cook it longer and cool it completely before mixing. Wet mushrooms loosen the farce and send their flavor into the braising liquid.
• •Celeriac, carrot, or spinach purée suits the breast without competing with its glaze. A light red from Beaujolais or a restrained red Burgundy has enough freshness for the veal and pork without bullying them.
• •The smallest cocotte that holds the joint comfortably is the right one. In a broad roasting pan, the short moistening spreads too thin and disappears before the veal becomes tender.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the dry duxelles and Pork Forcemeat for Divers Uses (No. 196) from their respective preparations ahead of time and chill them thoroughly. The recipe clock assumes both finished components are ready.
• •The breast may be stuffed, closed, and refrigerated for up to twelve hours. Bring it out thirty minutes before browning so the exterior loses its deep chill, but keep the farce cold.
• •For a fully make-ahead service, braise the breast one day ahead and chill it in its juices. Reheat it covered at 300°F (150°C) until the farce reaches 165°F (74°C), then reduce the juices and perform the final glazing immediately before carving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 260g)