No. 1488

Breast of Veal a la Mondoux

Poitrine de Veau a la Mondoux

Procure a white and fat breast of veal; cover a baking pan with minced carrots and onions, fragments of fat pork and a garnished bouquet; lay the breast on top, moistening to its heighth with stock; first boil then cook it in a slack oven for three hours, being careful to turn it over several times during this period. When the breast is well done, remove the hard ribs, leaving on the gristle; set it under a weight, and when nearly cold bread-crumb them English style. Butter liberally a baking sheet, lay the meat on top, sprinkle over with more butter, then brown it nicely in a slow oven. Dress on a long dish and range around a garnishing composed of tomatoes cut in halves and the moisture extracted, shredded green peppers, chopped onions and a clove of garlic, the whole fried in butter and diluted with a little veloute, nicely seasoned and besprinkled with chopped parsley.

← No. 1487 Breast of Veal a la Bourdaloue Veal No. 1489 Breast of Veal au Gastronome →

For the Modern Kitchen

A two-day braise-and-crumb dish from Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894): the breast is cooked long and slow in stock, pressed flat until cold, then breaded and browned. The pressing is the hinge — without it the meat will not slice cleanly or hold its crust.

Slack ovenA "slack" oven is a low one, usually reckoned somewhere around 250-300F. Three hours at that heat with the pan liquid at the level of the meat suits a bone-in breast; the recipe gives no weight. The meat should be pullable-tender before you touch the ribs.
Fragments of fat porkSalt pork or unsmoked fatback, cut in pieces. Blanch salt pork a minute or two if it is heavily cured, since the braising liquid reduces around the meat.
Garnished bouquetA bouquet garni: parsley stems, thyme and bay tied in leek or celery. Tie it so it comes out whole.
"Moistening to its heighth"Bring the stock up level with the top of the meat, not over it. Ranhofer also says to boil first, then oven-cook — start it on the stovetop so the liquid is at a simmer when it goes in.
Removing the ribs, keeping the gristlePull the rib bones out while the breast is hot; they lift away easily. The cartilage between them is left in deliberately — it turns gelatinous and is part of the texture.
Under a weightLay the boned breast flat between two trays with 4-5 lb on top and refrigerate. Overnight is better than "nearly cold." A loose, unpressed breast will shed its crumbs in the oven.
Bread-crumb English styleA l'anglaise: flour, then beaten egg thinned with a little oil, then fine dry breadcrumbs. Cut the pressed breast into portions first.
BrowningA slow oven will not colour breadcrumbs before it dries the meat out. Use 400-425F on a well-buttered sheet, or finish under the broiler, until the crust is even gold — 15-20 minutes.
VelouteThe garnish sauce is thinned with veal veloute — a white roux moistened with veal stock. A light stock reduced and bound with a beurre manie does the same work.
YieldA breast of this kind, boned and pressed, will serve roughly six to eight depending on its size. The tomato, pepper, onion and garlic garnish is a Provencal-leaning one and wants to be made while the crumbed meat browns.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer ran the kitchen at Delmonico's in New York for some three decades, and The Epicurean is essentially the restaurant's working repertoire set down in print — which is why the veal section runs to a long series of breast preparations distinguished only by garnish and finish. Breast of veal was the cheap, gelatinous, awkward cut, and the classic French treatment was exactly this: braise it soft, bone it, press it flat until cold so it can be cut into neat shapes, then crumb and brown it so an inexpensive cut arrives looking like a cutlet. The name Mondoux is one of the many personal or fanciful labels Ranhofer attaches to garnishes without explanation; unlike Bourdaloue or Gastronome it has no established place in the classical repertoire, and its origin is not documented. What the garnish itself tells you is more useful — halved tomatoes with the seeds and liquid squeezed out, green peppers, onion and garlic fried in butter mark this as one of the sunnier, southern-French-inflected garnishes.