Veal blanquette 

Veal with a rich side dish of Champignon mushrooms! An ancient French recipe, which involves the use of veal with vegetables and an irresistible white sauce. Have you ever heard of veal blanquette (or bianchetto)? It is a typical French preparation in which neither the veal nor the butter are darkened. It is therefore a sort of stew **of white meat -**normally veal, but it can also be prepared with lamb or chicken - cooked in broth with the addition of aromatic herbs and with a white and soft sauce that binds everything. 

Veal blanquette has an ancient history: it is mentioned as early as 1903 in the text Le Guide culinaire by Georges Auguste Escoffier in the version "Blanquette de Veau a l'Ancienne", or old-fashioned, in which it is served with noodles instead of rice. 

 Let's find out together how to prepare veal blanquette. 

INGREDIENTS

calf shoulder 600 gr

veal breast 800 gr

mushrooms 250 gr

onions 2

carrots 2

celery1 rib

Spring onions 200 gr

cloves 2

Meat cubes 2

egg yolk 1

extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons

butter 60 gr

cream 250 ml

salt and pepper 

PREPARATION

Wash carrots and celery, peel the first and cut the second into cubes; Clean the onions and infiltrate with cloves. Cut the meat into

pieces and put it in a cocotte with the 3 prepared vegetables, extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper, and crumbled cubes. Cover the meat with water and cook, covered, over low heat, for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Remove the carrots and cut them into small pieces. Clean the mushrooms, removing the earthy stem and rinsing them quickly under running water, then slice them and brown them in a pan with clean onions and butter. Drain the meat and keep it aside, and reduce the cooking sauce over high heat for about 10 minutes, then trim it. Rinse the cocotte, pour the sauce, add the cream and

reduce the sauce slightly, stirring occasionally. Beat the egg yolk in a bowl, add the sauce and pour everything into the cocotte. Heat

over low heat, without bringing to a boil, and, stirring, add the meat,

mushrooms with spring onions and carrots. Season with salt and serve hot the veal blanquette.

There are a ton of different ways to cook a tasty veal dish; sautéing, broiling, grilling, braising, and including it in a stew come to mind. The best wine pairing will take the different methods to cooking veal into account in order to come up with the best way to bring out the ingredients used in the preparation of the dish. The wine will seek to complement its flavor and texture rather than overpower it.

On a basic level, veal can pair well with very full-bodied dry red wine, and can also pair well with full-bodied wine. Keep in mind that the more complex the veal dish (such as stew, which has several different flavors), the more acidity it should have. It should be able to cut through the flavor without out-shining it.

Pommard 1er Cru 'Clos des Epeneaux' Monopole

This wine displays a fruity complexity, chewy tannin, subtle sweetness, dark berry flavors, and a strawberry aroma with blackberry, cranberry, and violet notes. 

Elegant, smooth and concentrated. Nicely balanced acidity. Sweeps across the palate. There is density in the mid palate with some power, sweetness and certainly richness, but nicely balanced. And then at the end it is energetic and more refined with a vibrance of fruit. 

Wine experts think this Burgundy Côte de Beaune Red wine would be a match made in heaven with this dish. 

Bon appétit!