Blanquette de veau

Last night I defrosted veal stew meat that I bought on my Arthur Avenue trip....remember that trip? Actually, I was quite impressed with myself because I remembered to do this when I got home Saturday night after the aforementioned Guinness, dirty Martini et. al. That's Irish for you...

Anyway, the veal was in the fridge Sunday morning and I needed a recipe. I did a quick Google search and Blanquette de veau popped up over and over again - so out to the market to pick up a few ingredients and we were good to go. I varied the recipe slightly from what I found and would actually recommend a few changes still.

I started by peeling about 10 small white onions and chopping 3 carrots. These got tossed in the crockpot along with about 15 small crimini mushrooms. I would add more of all these veggies.



While I was chopping, I browned the veal quickly in some butter.



Browned veal say hello to carrots, mushrooms, and onions.



A little chicken stock (about 1 cup), 2 bay leaves, and about 4 sprigs of thyme went into the pot. The timer was set to 5 hours on high and nap time began.

When the beeper went off, I went back to the pot, added 1/2 cup cream that was mixed with 2 tbsp. flour. Back on high for 20 minutes and voila.



I served the stew with some rice and fresh parsley.



Not bad. I added a bunch of salt before serving and some lemon juice. Next time I will add more thyme early on. Also more lemon juice. I also think some saffron would go nicely. All in all a very hearty meal that dutifully earned the descriptor "satisfying."

I forgot to bring the leftovers to work with me but am looking forward to them tomorrow. I just wrote a note on my hand so I won't forget.