Kalvefrikasse med Asparges

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, 5 litre
• •Medium pot for the asparagus
• •Wide heavy-bottomed pan for the sauce
• •Fine mesh strainer
• •Vegetable peeler
• •Whisk
• •Slotted spoon
• •Large measuring jug

Instructions

1. 1

   Blanch the veal

   Put the veal pieces into a large pot and cover them with cold water. Bring the water slowly to a simmer. As it heats, grey-brown scum will rise to the surface. That's blood and protein, and if you leave it in the pot it will cloud your stock and cloud your sauce. As soon as the water reaches a simmer, tip the veal into a colander and rinse each piece briefly under cold running water. The meat is now clean, and the stock you're about to make will stay pale and clear, which is the whole point of this dish.

   Don't skip this step. Blanching is the difference between a pale, elegant kalvefrikasse and a cloudy brown one.
2. 2

   Simmer the veal

   Rinse the pot, then return the veal to it. Add the halved onion, carrot, leek, bay leaves, peppercorns, parsley stalks, and a generous pinch of salt. Pour in 1.2 litres of fresh cold water, just enough to submerge everything. Bring it slowly to the gentlest simmer you can manage. Not a boil, barely a tremor on the surface. A hard boil toughens the meat and clouds the liquid, and you need both the veal and the stock to stay soft and clean. Partially cover the pot and cook for about an hour and fifteen minutes, or until the veal is completely tender. A piece pulled apart with a fork should surrender without argument.

3. 3

   Peel the asparagus

   While the veal simmers, prepare the asparagus. White asparagus has to be peeled, and peeled deeper than you think. Take a vegetable peeler and start about 2cm below the tip, working all the way down to the base in long even strokes. Under-peeled white asparagus stays stringy no matter how long you cook it, and stringy asparagus ruins the whole dish. Trim a centimetre off the woody ends. Green asparagus only needs its woody ends snapped off, no peeling required. Cut both kinds into lengths of about 4cm, keeping the tips in a separate pile from the stems. They cook at different speeds.

   Save the white asparagus peelings. You can simmer them in a little of the veal stock for ten minutes for an even deeper asparagus flavor, then strain and use that liquid in the sauce.
4. 4

   Cook the asparagus

   Bring a medium pot of lightly salted water to a gentle simmer. Add the white asparagus stems first and cook for 3 minutes. Add the white tips and the green stems together and cook for 2 minutes more. Finally add the green tips and the peas for one last minute. Lift everything out with a slotted spoon into a bowl and set aside. The white takes longer because it's denser. Staging the cooking means everything finishes at the same tenderness, which is just past raw. Never soft. Soft asparagus has no place in this dish.

5. 5

   Strain the stock

   When the veal is tender, lift the pieces out with a slotted spoon into a bowl and cover them to keep warm. Strain the cooking liquid through a fine mesh sieve into a large measuring jug, pressing gently on the vegetables to extract their flavor but not so hard that you push pulp through. You should have around 800ml of pale, fragrant stock. If you have less, top it up with hot water. If you have much more, reduce it briefly in a clean pan. This stock is the foundation of the sauce. It should taste clean, gently savory, and smell of veal and herbs.

6. 6

   Make the blonde roux

   Melt the butter in a wide heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. When it's foaming, add the flour all at once and whisk it smooth. Cook this paste for 2 minutes, whisking constantly, until it smells faintly of toasted biscuit and looks pale and loose. You want it blonde, never browned. A dark roux would tint the whole sauce and the whole character of kalvefrikasse is pale. Blonde is the rule here.

7. 7

   Build the sauce

   Pour the hot veal stock into the roux in a slow, steady stream, whisking all the while. The sauce will thicken quickly as the liquid hits the flour. Keep whisking until it's completely smooth. Add the cream and bring everything to a gentle simmer. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce coats the back of a wooden spoon and a line drawn through it with a finger holds its shape for a second before closing. Season with salt, a little white pepper, and a small grating of nutmeg if you like it.

8. 8

   Temper the egg yolks

   Whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a small bowl. Take a ladle of the hot sauce and pour it into the yolks in a thin stream, whisking the whole time. This warms the yolks gently so they don't scramble when they meet the rest of the sauce. Now pull the pan off the heat completely. Pour the tempered yolk mixture back into the sauce, whisking steadily as it goes in. The sauce will turn silky and glossy and a shade paler. From this moment forward, never let it boil. If it boils, the yolks split and you've got scrambled egg in a spring stew. Keep it below a simmer and you'll be fine.

   You'll know the liaison has taken when the sauce suddenly looks glossier and clings to the whisk. That's the egg yolks doing their quiet work.
9. 9

   Combine everything

   Return the veal, asparagus, and peas to the sauce. Warm everything through over the lowest possible heat, moving the pot gently rather than stirring hard. You want the meat and vegetables coated and hot, not churned. Taste the sauce. Adjust with salt, white pepper, and a few more drops of lemon if it needs lifting. Stir in most of the chopped dill and keep a handful back for the top. The finished dish should look pale gold with the pale green of asparagus and the bright green of dill breaking through.

10. 10

    Serve with new potatoes

    Boil the new potatoes in salted water until tender, about 15 minutes depending on size. Drain them and toss with a knob of butter and a little more dill. Spoon the kalvefrikasse into shallow bowls and scatter the remaining dill over the top. Serve the potatoes alongside, not on top. This is a dish of pale golds and greens, and the potatoes are part of the picture. If the new potatoes haven't arrived at the market yet, small waxy potatoes will stand in, but this meal really belongs to the week when the first new potatoes come in. That's when everything tastes the way it's supposed to. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •Buy the veal from a good butcher and ask for shoulder or breast. They're the cuts that have the gelatin and connective tissue to reward a long gentle simmer. Lean cuts like leg go dry and stringy.
• •White asparagus season in Denmark runs from late April to mid-June. Outside that window, the frozen or imported spears will work, but this is a dish that's honestly best when the real thing arrives. The joy of waiting is part of the meal.
• •The liaison of egg yolks and cream is what separates a kalvefrikasse from a generic cream sauce. Don't skip it, and don't rush it. Temper the yolks properly and keep the pot off the boil afterwards.
• •For drinking, a dry Riesling or a crisp Alsace white works beautifully with the cream and the asparagus. If you prefer beer, a good Danish pilsner is a traditional and gentle match.

Advance Preparation

• •The veal can be simmered a day ahead. Cool it in its own stock, then refrigerate together. Reheat gently before making the sauce. Cooling in the stock keeps the meat moist.
• •The asparagus can be peeled and trimmed earlier in the day and kept wrapped in a damp cloth in the fridge. Don't cook it until the sauce is nearly ready.
• •The sauce itself is best finished just before serving. The egg yolk liaison doesn't hold well, and reheating risks splitting the sauce. Plan to bring the components together in the final fifteen minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 690g)