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Stewed Loin of Veal
The chump end of a loin of veal is the best part to stew. When well floured, place it in a saucepan with a little butter that has been browned over the fire, and brown the veal in it; when of a good color, pour in enough good veal broth to half cover it, put in a couple of carrots, cut in pieces an onion, a small sprig of parsley, and a small bunch of sweet herbs, and stew gently for two hours and a half. When half done, turn it, and when quite done, take it out. Thicken the broth, season it to taste, pour over the veal, and serve. Stewed Veal, Marengo Cut three pounds of lean veal into pieces and cook them in a stewpan with one gill of oil, a cut up onion or two shallots and two or three ounces of salt pork, also cut in pieces. Toss them occasionally, and when well browned, which should take about ten minutes, dredge in two tablespoonfuls of flour, stirring well. Moisten with one quart of white broth and one gill of tomato sauce and season with one tablespoonful of salt and one teaspoonful of pepper, adding a crushed clove of garlic and a garnished bouquet. Cook for forty minutes and serve with croutons of fried bread for garnish with a little chopped parsley sprinkled over.
Two related dishes run together: a whole braised loin end, and a cut-up veal stew in the Marengo style. Both are braises rather than true stews, and both depend on getting real color on the meat before any liquid goes in.
- The hinge: brown properly, then barely simmerThe loin is floured and browned in browned butter; the Marengo browns in oil and takes its flour only after the meat has colored. Either way, once the broth is in, keep the pot at a bare tremble — a rolling boil will squeeze veal into strings well before the two and a half hours are up.
- Chump endThe chump is the sirloin end of the loin, nearest the leg. Most butchers no longer break veal down this way; ask for a boneless veal sirloin or top round roast of 3-4 lb, or use shoulder, which takes long moist cooking better than modern lean loin.
- A gillHalf a cup. The Marengo takes 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup tomato sauce.
- White brothAn unbrowned veal or chicken stock, made from bones blanched rather than roasted. Any light, unsalted stock works; avoid dark brown beef stock, which will bury the dish.
- Sweet herbs and the garnished bouquetBoth mean a tied bundle — thyme, parsley stems, bay, sometimes a leek green or a celery rib. Tie it with string so it lifts out whole.
- The saltA tablespoon of salt and a teaspoon of pepper for three pounds of veal is heavy by current taste, especially alongside salt pork and a stock that may already be seasoned. Add half, then correct at the end once the liquid has reduced.
- Timing the MarengoForty minutes suits small cubes of tender veal; shoulder cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces will want 60-75 minutes before it gives. Judge by a fork sliding in with no resistance, not the clock.
- Thickening the loin's brothAfter two and a half hours the liquid is usually rich enough to thicken by reduction alone. If it needs more, whisk in a small kneaded butter-and-flour paste off the boil rather than adding raw flour.
- YieldThe Marengo serves six; a 3-4 lb loin end serves six to eight.
Veal Marengo borrows its name from chicken Marengo, the dish generally traced to a supper improvised for Napoleon after the battle of Marengo in 1800 — a story cooks have repeated for two centuries without much documentary support, and the veal version is simply the same formula of oil, tomato, garlic and fried bread applied to a cheaper white meat.