Chef Juliette
Selle de Veau (Relevé)
A half saddle of veal, bacon-barded and braised by short moistening, emerges bronze and succulent, with the concentrated veal glaze that makes this grand relevé worthy of the home table.
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Blanquette de Veau aux Céleris, Cardons, etc.
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 1274, Blanquette de Veau aux Céleris, Cardons, etc., from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Veal and cardoon, celery, or endive share one pale simmer, then return beneath a glossy liaison of cream and yolk: a generous blanquette whose vegetable gives the white sauce its character.
Soups & Stews
French
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
30 min
Active Time
1 hr 40 min cook•2 hr 10 min total
Yield4 servings
Blanquette de Veau aux Céleris, Cardons, etc. (white veal stew with celery, cardoons, or endive) teaches the discipline of cooking pale food without cooking timidly. The one true thing to know before touching the pan is this: you do not brown the veal. Its savour comes from a slow cold start, exact skimming, the vegetable's gentle bitterness, a roux blanc, and a liaison that must never boil.
The original assumed a stock never off the fire, a saucier finishing the sauce, and another pair of hands tending a separately prepared vegetable. At home, use one heavy pot, one saucepan, and good light stock, scaled for four. The extra hands were brigade scaffolding and can go. The cold start, the separate white roux, the egg-and-cream liaison, and the final straining are the dish, so they stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
When it is right, the veal is yielding, the vegetable still recognizable, and the ivory sauce lies over both with a quiet butter sheen. Choose cardoon for earthy bitterness, celery for freshness, or endive for a northern edge, but choose only one and let it lead. The decisive moment comes at the liaison: keep it below a simmer, because gentleness is what turns yolk and cream into silk.
Blanquette de veau belongs chiefly to the bourgeois table of Paris and central France, where pale simmered veal and velouté enriched with egg and cream moved from professional kitchens into home cooking. This vegetable-led formula is deliberately elastic but not vague: cardoon gives the pot a Lyonnais and Rhône Valley accent, while endive belongs to the northern larder and celery travels widely. Its whiteness never required boiling the meat first; good veal started in cold liquid, and careful skimming preserved both colour and savour.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
boneless veal shoulder or breast
Quantity
2 lb (900 g)
cut into 1½-inch pieces
cardoons, small celery hearts, or small Belgian endives, choose one
Quantity
1½ lb (680 g); prepare cardoons or celery according to Blanchings (No. 273)
cardoons cut into 4-inch pieces, celery hearts quartered, or endives washed and left whole
cold light veal stock or low-sodium chicken stock
Quantity
5 cups (1.2 L / 1.2 kg)
cold water
Quantity
Up to 2 cups (480 ml / 480 g)
as needed to cover
medium onion
Quantity
1 (about 1 cup / 150 g)
peeled
whole cloves
Quantity
2
bouquet garni of parsley stems, thyme, and bay leaf
Quantity
1
fine salt
Quantity
1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml / 9 g)
divided
ground white pepper
Quantity
¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.6 g), plus more to taste
unsalted butter
Quantity
4 tablespoons (60 ml / 57 g)
divided
all-purpose flour
Quantity
⅓ cup (80 ml / 42 g)
large egg yolks
Quantity
2
cold heavy cream
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 120 g)
divided
fresh lemon juice
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| boneless veal shoulder or breastcut into 1½-inch pieces | 2 lb (900 g) |
| cardoons, small celery hearts, or small Belgian endives, choose onecardoons cut into 4-inch pieces, celery hearts quartered, or endives washed and left whole | 1½ lb (680 g); prepare cardoons or celery according to Blanchings (No. 273) |
| cold light veal stock or low-sodium chicken stock | 5 cups (1.2 L / 1.2 kg) |
| cold wateras needed to cover | Up to 2 cups (480 ml / 480 g) |
| medium onionpeeled | 1 (about 1 cup / 150 g) |
| whole cloves | 2 |
| bouquet garni of parsley stems, thyme, and bay leaf | 1 |
| fine saltdivided | 1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml / 9 g) |
| ground white pepper | ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.6 g), plus more to taste |
| unsalted butterdivided | 4 tablespoons (60 ml / 57 g) |
| all-purpose flour | ⅓ cup (80 ml / 42 g) |
| large egg yolks | 2 |
| cold heavy creamdivided | ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) |
| fresh lemon juice | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •5 to 6-quart heavy pot or Dutch oven
- •2 to 3-quart heavy saucepan
- •Fine-mesh sieve
- •Shallow skimming spoon
- •Slotted spoon
- •Deep warmed serving dish
Instructions
- 1
Ready the vegetable
Choose one vegetable, not a mixture. For cardoons or celery, reach for the vegetable already prepared according to Blanchings (No. 273); keep the cardoons in 4-inch pieces and quarter the celery hearts lengthwise. If using endive, wash it thoroughly and leave it whole. Endive is deliberately not blanched in this formula.
The vegetable is not a decoration added at the end. It cooks beside the veal, perfumes the liquor, and gives the finished sauce its particular character. - 2
Start the veal cold
Stud the peeled onion with the cloves. Put the veal, chosen vegetable, onion, bouquet garni, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and white pepper in a heavy pot. Pour in the cold stock and only enough cold water to cover everything by about ½ inch. Do not soak or parboil the meat first. Bring the pot slowly toward a simmer over medium heat, stirring gently from the bottom several times so the proteins rise rather than cling.
A cold start draws flavour into the cooking liquor while keeping the veal pale. Preliminary boiling only discards savour that should belong to the sauce. - 3
Skim and simmer
As grey-white foam gathers, skim it carefully with a shallow spoon. Once the first quiet bubbles appear, lower the heat and hold the liquid at the barest tremble for 60 to 75 minutes. Check the vegetable as it cooks: endive or celery may be tender after 25 to 40 minutes, while cardoon may need 45 to 60. Lift each piece out when a knife enters without resistance, then continue cooking the veal until it yields easily but still holds its shape. If the pot boils hard, lower the heat and add a small ladle of cold water before skimming again.
- 4
Drain and strain
Lift the veal into a warmed deep serving dish. Drain the vegetables, trim away any ragged edges, and arrange them among the meat without breaking them. Cover loosely to keep everything warm. Discard the onion and bouquet garni, then strain the cooking liquor through a fine sieve and skim away excess surface fat. Measure 3 cups (720 ml / about 720 g) for the sauce and keep a little extra nearby for adjusting its consistency.
- 5
Make the roux blanc
Melt 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) of the butter in the saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in the flour to make a roux blanc, a white roux, and cook for 2 minutes without allowing it to colour. Whisk in the measured hot cooking liquor a little at a time, making each addition smooth before the next. Simmer gently for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. If it is thin, simmer it longer before adding the liaison; if it is too tight, loosen it with reserved cooking liquor.
- 6
Temper the liaison
Whisk the egg yolks with 6 tablespoons (90 ml / 90 g) of the cold cream and the lemon juice. Whisk in 1 cup (240 ml / about 240 g) of the hot sauce by small additions, then take the saucepan off the heat and stir this tempered liaison, the egg-and-cream enrichment, back into the remaining sauce. Return it to the lowest heat and stir constantly until it thickens slightly and reaches about 165°F (74°C). Never let it boil. If small curds appear, pull it from the heat immediately and whisk in the reserved 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) cold cream. Ça se rattrape. Stir in the remaining tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) of butter.
- 7
Strain and serve
Strain the finished sauce directly over the arranged veal and vegetables, moving the sieve so every piece receives an even ivory coating. Taste the sauce and add the remaining salt or a little more white pepper if needed. Serve at once from the deep dish, with the sauce generously pooled around the meat. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Ask for veal shoulder, breast, or a mixture with some connective tissue. Lean leg meat looks tidy but dries before the sauce has gathered enough body; a modest shoulder is the better cook.
- •Fresh cardoons should feel rigid and heavy, with pale inner stalks. If they are tired or unavailable, choose celery hearts or endive, both provided for by the formula, rather than forcing a poor cardoon into the pot.
- •The sauce must be properly thick before the liaison enters. Yolks and cream refine its body but should not be asked to repair a watery velouté; reduction comes first.
- •A dry Chenin Blanc from the Loire has enough acidity for the cream and enough breadth for veal. Keep the bottle cool, not icy, and put bread on the table for the last of the sauce.
Advance Preparation
- •Cook the veal and vegetable up to two days ahead, strain the liquor, and refrigerate the components separately once cooled. Reheat the veal and vegetable gently in a little cooking liquor, make the roux-thickened sauce, and add the liaison only before serving.
- •Cardoons or celery may be prepared according to Blanchings (No. 273) one day ahead and kept covered in the cold. Drain them well before they enter the blanquette.
- •A fully finished blanquette can be reheated over very low heat, stirring the sauce gently and never allowing it to simmer. Add a spoonful of cream or reserved liquor if the chilled sauce has tightened.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 560g)
Calories
690 calories
Total Fat
45 g
Saturated Fat
23 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
21 g
Cholesterol
320 mg
Sodium
1330 mg
Total Carbohydrates
18 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
54 g
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