Ris de Veau à la Cévenole

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large nonreactive bowl
• •4-quart (3.8 L) saucepan
• •Two heavy rimmed trays and a 2 to 3 pound weight
• •12-inch (30 cm) ovenproof sauté pan with lid
• •Small skillet with lid or parchment round
• •Food processor or food mill
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Broiler-safe rimmed tray and pastry brush
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Warm oval platter and sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak and blanch

   Put the sweetbreads in a nonreactive bowl, cover generously with cold water, and refrigerate for 2 hours, changing the water two or three times until it remains nearly clear. Transfer them to a saucepan with the measured 12 cups of fresh water, the vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of the salt. Bring up slowly from cold to the barest simmer, then blanch for 5 minutes. Move the sweetbreads immediately into fresh cold water. A hard boil contracts the outside before the center firms; if the pan gets away from you, lift them out at once rather than cooking them longer. Ça se rattrape.

2. 2

   Trim and press

   While the sweetbreads are cool enough to handle but not yet cold, pull away loose membrane, fatty patches, visible tubes, and any bloody spots with a small knife and your fingers. Preserve the plump lobes. Set them between two sheets of parchment on a rimmed tray, cover with a second tray, and add a 2 to 3 pound weight. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Pressing is not brigade ceremony: it gives each lobe an even thickness, expels excess water, and makes a proper glaze possible. If a lobe splits during trimming, press the pieces together and braise them with the rest, checking them a few minutes earlier.

   The sweetbreads must feel firm and dry before they reach the butter. An unpressed sweetbread spreads and steams, however splendid the stock may be.
3. 3

   Make chestnut purée

   While the sweetbreads press, reserve 1 cup of the stock for the accompaniments. Put the chestnuts and ½ cup of that reserved stock in a saucepan, cover, and simmer gently for 12 to 15 minutes, until the chestnuts crush easily and have absorbed most of the liquid. Process them while warm with the cream, 3 tablespoons of the butter, ½ teaspoon of the remaining salt, and a small pinch of white pepper. Pass the purée through a fine sieve if it retains coarse pieces, then cover and set aside. If it turns stiff or crumbly, loosen it with warm stock, one spoonful at a time. If it is loose, return it to gentle heat and stir until it holds a soft mound.

4. 4

   Braise the sweetbreads

   Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). If using chicken stock, set aside the remaining unfortified ½ cup for the onions, then sprinkle the gelatin over the 2 cups intended for braising and leave it for 5 minutes. Pat the pressed sweetbreads thoroughly dry and season with 1 teaspoon salt and about half the remaining pepper. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a wide ovenproof sauté pan over medium-high heat. When its foam subsides, brown the sweetbreads in one uncrowded layer, about 3 minutes on each broad face, until evenly Maillard-bronze. Remove them, lower the heat, and soften the carrot and sliced onion in the same pan for 5 minutes. Add the wine and scrape up the fond, then reduce by half. Pour in the 2 cups stock, add the bouquet garni, and return the sweetbreads; the liquid should reach roughly halfway up their sides. Cover and braise in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, turning once, until the lobes feel springy-firm and reach 160°F (71°C) at the center. If the liquid falls below one-quarter of their depth, add a few spoonfuls of water.

5. 5

   Glaze the onions

   While the sweetbreads braise, put the pearl onions in a small skillet with 2 tablespoons butter, the sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, and the final reserved ½ cup stock. Cover with a parchment round or a lid left slightly ajar and simmer gently for 15 to 20 minutes, until a knife enters without resistance. Uncover and roll the onions through the reducing liquid until they are glossy and lightly golden. If the liquid disappears before the onions are tender, add water a tablespoon at a time. If the sugar begins coloring too quickly, pull the skillet from the heat and add a splash of water; the glaze will settle again.

6. 6

   Bind the gravy

   Lift the braised sweetbreads onto a rack and strain their cooking liquid into a clean saucepan, pressing the vegetables gently before discarding them. Skim away excess fat, then boil the liquid steadily until about 1¼ cups remain and its flavor is full but not salty. Knead 1 tablespoon butter with the flour to make a beurre manié, a paste used to bind a sauce at the finish. Whisk it into the reduction in small pieces and simmer for 4 minutes, until the jus lié coats the back of a spoon yet still pours freely. If it forms lumps, strain it. If it becomes too thick, whisk in warm stock or water; if it remains thin, reduce it further. Ça se rattrape.

   Do not add all the beurre manié blindly. Stop when the jus lié leaves a clean trail through the coating on a spoon; a sauceboat requires flow, not paste.
7. 7

   Glaze under broiler

   Heat the broiler with a rack about 6 inches (15 cm) below it. Set the sweetbreads on a broiler-safe tray and brush them generously with the jus lié. Broil for 45 to 60 seconds, brush again, and repeat once or twice until each lobe wears a deep golden, lacquered glaze. This is the home salamander, quick and direct, so do not leave the oven door. If the glaze begins to spot black, lower the tray immediately and cover the spot with fresh jus lié before bitterness takes hold.

8. 8

   Arrange and serve

   Reheat the purée de marrons gently, loosening it with a spoonful of stock if needed, and warm the onions without boiling their glaze away. Arrange the sweetbreads down the center of a warm oval platter with a generous heap of oignons glacés at either end, exactly as the dish intends. Serve the purée de marrons beside the platter in a warm bowl and pour the remaining jus lié into a sauceboat. Gloss, tenderness, chestnut, and butter, with nothing fussy added. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Order the sweetbreads from a butcher and ask for plump, pale whole lobes rather than scraps. They should smell faint and clean, never sour, and they must remain cold from the shop through soaking and pressing.
• •Vacuum-packed or jarred unsweetened chestnuts are the honest pantry answer outside chestnut season. Do not buy sweetened chestnut spread; sugar belongs only in the small measure that glazes the onions.
• •A light veal stock gives the jus lié its natural body. If only chicken stock is available, use an unsalted one and add the gelatin as written; this restores the gloss a home carton usually lacks without turning the gravy stiff.
• •Serve a dry white with acidity and some breadth, such as a restrained white Burgundy or northern Rhône white. Very sweet or heavily oaked wine smothers the chestnut and the delicate mineral character of the sweetbreads.
• •Never apologize for sweetbreads at your own table. Tell guests what they are, serve them hot and shining, and let the platter make its own argument.

Advance Preparation

• •The sweetbreads can be soaked, blanched, trimmed, and pressed one day ahead. Keep them refrigerated between clean parchment under a light weight, then dry them again before browning.
• •The purée de marrons and oignons glacés can be made one day ahead. Reheat the purée gently with a little stock and warm the onions in their glaze, adding a spoonful of water if it has tightened.
• •The sweetbreads may be braised up to 4 hours before serving and refrigerated promptly in their strained cooking liquid. Reheat them gently in that liquid, then reduce, bind, and glaze only at the last moment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 475g)