No. 1509

Minion Fillets of Veal, with Puree of Artichokes

Filets Mignons de Veau a la Puree d'Artichauts

From the thickest part of an uncooked, pared minion fillet of veal, cut off slices each half an inch, having them slightly biased so as to obtain them wider; flatten with the cleaver, pare into rounds two and a quarter inches in diameter or in ovals, then season. Heat some clarified butter in a sautoir, range the minions on the bottom and fry them quickly on both sides, turning them over as fast as they are glazed; drain off the butter and moisten to half of their height with some good veal blond (No. 423); let fall two or three times slowly to a glaze always adding more of the same stock. When the minions are well glazed and cooked, lift them up one by one with a fork, and dress each on a flat crust of bread browned in the oven; range these on a long dish in two straight rows, and at both sides lay some artichoke puree (No. 704) pushed through a pocket; pour over part of the stock from the fillets after it has been reduced with a spoonful of Madeira wine. Serve the remainder in a sauce turren.

← No. 1508 Minced Fillet of Veal, Portuguese Veal No. 1510 Minions of Fillet of Veal with Mushrooms →

For the Modern Kitchen

A glazing method rather than a braise: the veal medallions are seared, then repeatedly moistened with light veal stock that is allowed to reduce to a syrup, building a lacquer on the meat. Everything depends on the stock, so read that point first.

Veal blond (No. 423)A pale veal stock made from unroasted bones and trimmings, so it stays light in colour. A good unsalted veal or light chicken stock stands in; it must be unsalted, since you will reduce it several times over and any seasoning concentrates with it.
The glazing, step by stepAdd stock to halfway up the medallions, let it reduce almost to nothing, add more, and repeat two or three times. Each reduction leaves a sticky film on the meat. Rushing this with a hard boil will overcook the veal before the glaze forms; keep it at a bare simmer.
Minion filletsFilet mignon de veau is the veal tenderloin. One tenderloin yields only a few slices from the thick end; a butcher can supply it, or use the eye of a boned loin cut to the same thickness.
Cutting on the biasSlicing at an angle gives a wider face at the same half-inch thickness, and flattening with the cleaver widens it further. Pare to rounds about 2 1/4 inches across so all the pieces cook evenly.
SautoirA shallow straight-sided pan, not a saute pan with flared sides. Any heavy skillet wide enough to hold the medallions in one layer will do; crowding steams them instead of glazing them.
DonenessHalf-inch veal medallions, seared and then glazed, are done in well under ten minutes total. The recipe asks only that they be 'well glazed and cooked'; the tenderloin dries fast, so take it off while still faintly pink at the centre.
Artichoke puree (No. 704)A puree of cooked artichoke bottoms, typically sieved and bound with butter and a little thick bechamel or reduced cream. Frozen artichoke hearts work; drain them well, as a watery puree will not hold its shape.
"Pushed through a pocket"A pastry bag. Pipe the puree in two ribbons or a row of rosettes down each side of the dish.
Crusts of breadCroutons: rounds of firm white bread, browned in the oven until crisp (the recipe gives no temperature). They absorb the glaze and keep the meat off the platter.
Finishing and yieldFinishing -- Reduce the remaining pan stock with a spoonful of Madeira, then pour part over the meat and send the rest to table separately. The recipe gives no yield; the number of medallions depends on how many slices the thick end of the tenderloin supplies.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer wrote The Epicurean (1894) out of some thirty years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and this entry shows the house style: a small, precisely pared cut of meat, a stock reduced onto it in stages, a vegetable puree piped alongside, and a numbered cross-reference to every component so the kitchen brigade could assemble it without further instruction. The pairing of veal with artichokes is thoroughly French, and the pale blond stock exists for the same reason as the pared rounds and the white puree, namely to keep the plate light in colour rather than brown. Veal tenderloin was a luxury even then, since a calf yields very little of it, and serving each medallion on its own crouton with a Madeira-scented glaze is characteristic of the restaurant cooking that made Delmonico's the American benchmark for European service in the Gilded Age.