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Quenelles of Veal
557. Take half a pound of good veal without sinews; take also half a pound of beef suet or calf's udder boiled. Chop it fine and pound it in a mortar; take half a pound of bread-crumbs; soak in white stock or milk, when soaked squeeze them through a tammy sieve or clean cloth; add it to the veal and suet, season with pepper, salt, and spices; add two eggs (white and yolks), pound it all together till quite smooth. Cut it with a spoon in the shape of an egg and poach in water, or put it in any small shapes and steam. Serve with good white sauce. The same may be done with chicken, game, or any white fish.
A classic forcemeat in the French manner, written for a kitchen with a marble mortar and a strong arm. A food processor does the work in two minutes, but the poaching still demands a gentle hand.
- Never let the water boilQuenelles poach at a bare shiver, around 170-180F, with the surface barely trembling. A rolling boil breaks the egg bind and the dumplings shed into rags.
- Calf's udderBoiled udder was one of the fats used for pale forcemeats and is essentially unobtainable now. Beef suet is the alternative the recipe itself gives; shredded suet from the baking aisle works, though butter or pork back fat gives a milder result.
- The panadeHalf a pound of crumbs soaked in stock or milk and then wrung out in a cloth is the binder. Squeeze it hard: a wet panade gives a slack mixture that will not hold its shape in the water. A double layer of muslin replaces the tammy.
- Ratio and textureEqual weights of lean meat, fat and crumb make a dense, old-fashioned quenelle. Modern palates usually prefer less crumb, around half the weight of the meat, for a lighter result.
- Chill before shapingRest the pounded mixture in the refrigerator for an hour. Cold forcemeat holds the quenelle shape and is far easier to mould between two wetted dessertspoons.
- Test one firstPoach a single small quenelle before shaping the rest. If it collapses, work in a little more squeezed panade; if it is tough and rubbery, a spoonful of cream loosens the mix.
- SpicesThe unspecified "spices" of a white forcemeat of this kind would usually be mace or nutmeg, perhaps with a little cayenne. Keep the quantity small; the point is to lift the veal, not to colour it.
- Timing and yieldEgg-shaped quenelles of about 40g need roughly 8-10 minutes in the water and should feel firm and float. The quantities here -- a pound and a half of mixture plus two eggs -- make somewhere around 20, enough for six as a course with white sauce.