Blinde Vinken (Dutch Blind Finches)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy braadpan or Dutch oven, about 24cm
• •Meat mallet or rolling pin
• •Kitchen string
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix the filling

   Put the breadcrumbs and milk in a bowl and let them soften for five minutes. Add the minced meat, egg yolk, shallot, parsley, mustard, nutmeg, mace, salt, and a few turns of black pepper. Mix with your hand until the filling turns tacky and holds together; this stickiness is what keeps the little roll from crumbling when you cut it.

2. 2

   Shape the vinken

   Lay the veal or beef slices flat. If they are thicker than 3mm, put them between two sheets of baking paper and tap them thinner with a meat mallet or rolling pin. Divide the filling into four short logs, set one on each slice, fold in the sides, roll firmly, and tie each one with kitchen string. They should look like small blunt birds, if you squint, which is how half of cookery history works.

   Ask the butcher for thin slices made for blinde vinken or paupiettes. If the wrapper is too thick, it fights the filling and the dish becomes a chew rather than a braise.
3. 3

   Brown in butter

   Heat the butter and oil in a heavy braadpan over medium heat. Brown the rolls on all sides, about eight to ten minutes total, turning them gently with tongs. Do not hurry this. The browned bits on the bottom of the pan are the backbone of the jus, and pale meat gives you pale gravy.

4. 4

   Build the jus

   Lift the browned rolls onto a plate. Add the sliced onion to the pan and cook for five minutes, scraping as it softens. Sprinkle in the flour and stir for one minute, then pour in the stock little by little, scraping the bottom until the sauce loosens and turns glossy. Return the rolls to the pan and add the bay leaf.

5. 5

   Braise gently

   Cover the pan and braise over low heat for forty to forty-five minutes, turning the rolls once halfway through. The sauce should only tremble, not boil hard. Because there is minced meat inside, cook the filling through completely; an instant-read thermometer should show 70C in the centre, or the cut middle should be firm and no longer pink.

   If you use beef slices instead of veal, give them ten extra minutes if they still feel tight under the fork. Dutch cooking forgives time more easily than impatience.
6. 6

   Finish and serve

   Remove the bay leaf and cut away the strings. If the jus is thin, lift out the rolls and boil the sauce for a few minutes until it lightly coats a spoon, then taste for salt and pepper. Serve the blinde vinken with boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, or red cabbage. The potatoes are not decoration; they are there to catch the gravy.

Chef Tips

• •Do not confuse blinde vinken with slavinken. A slavink is minced meat wrapped in bacon, a twentieth-century butcher's cousin. Blinde vinken need the thin veal or beef wrapper to keep their little-bird shape.
• •Mace and nutmeg are not perfume here. They are the quiet Dutch spice cupboard doing its work, the same old habit that puts warm spice into hachee, bitterballen, and sausage meat.
• •Use unsalted or lightly salted stock if you can. The jus reduces as it braises, and a loud bouillon cube will shout over the butter and onion.
• •These are better after a rest. Cool them in their jus, chill overnight, and reheat gently in a covered pan; the filling firms and the sauce settles into the meat.

Advance Preparation

• •The rolls can be shaped up to 1 day ahead. Keep them covered in the refrigerator and let them stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before browning.
• •Cooked blinde vinken keep for 3 days refrigerated in their jus. Reheat gently, covered, with a spoonful of water if the sauce has thickened too much.
• •They freeze well for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat slowly so the filling stays tender.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 260g)