la blanquette de veau

January 29th, 2013

la blanquette de veau (veal stew in a white wine-crème fraîche sauce with mushrooms, pearl onions, and artichoke hearts on garlic-rubbed toasted French Bread)

la blanquette de veau


(veal stew in a white wine-crème fraîche sauce with mushrooms, pearl onions,
and artichoke hearts on garlic-rubbed toasted French Bread) 

 (a/k/a “la blanquette d’amour” for Valentine’s Day 2013)

 

 

serves 4-6

preparation time: 10 minutes
oven time: 1 hour
stove time: 30 minutes

what you need:

veal
2 pounds veal shoulder (or beef or chicken breast), cut into 1 ½ -2″ cubes (fat discarded)
all-purpose flour (as needed)
kosher salt (as needed)
freshly ground black pepper (as needed)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter Read the rest of this entry »

my garbure

January 26th, 2012

Garbure or stone soup

Peasant stew.  Fit for a king and royally good: 
my garbure

This month second graders all across America are reading as many books as they can that have been awarded the Caldecott Honor.  One of my favorite Caldecott books is Stone Soup by Marcia Brown. The book is about three hungry soldiers who convince (or trick) a town of peasants to make soup from stones (and other on-hand, but hidden, ingredients). The effort culminates in a soup that the peasants declare is “fit for a king.” While we are not making soup from stones, the ability to make a simple yet hearty soup with on-hand ingredients (and a few seasonal vegetables which I consider under-used but easily obtainable) is the inspiration for this week’s simple pleasure, my garbure. Read the rest of this entry »