home for Valentine’s Day

January 29th, 2013

 

black and white, girl in wedding dress with artichoke bouquet

 

home for Valentine’s Day;
cooking for the important person or people in your life:

la blanquette d’amour

 

In honor of  Saint Valentine’s Day (a little early), I share something with you beyond a great recipe, the words of author Leo Tolstoy. It is Tolstoy’s “pursuit of life” which inspired this week’s simple pleasure: la blanquette de veau (veal stew in a white wine-crème fraîche sauce with mushrooms, pearl onions, and artichoke hearts served on garlic-rubbed toasted French bread). I also call it “blanquette d’amour” because cooking is all about what you put in the cocotte, namely, a little love with hand-chosen ingredients. Read on.

 

 black and white, girl in wedding dress with artichoke bouquet

  

Read the rest of this entry »

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 »