No. 1521

Kernel of Veal with Thickened Gravy

Noix de Veau au jus lie

Take a kernel of veal, keep the udder whole and set it between two white cloths to beat it down with a cleaver; pare a third of the kernel by removing the fat and sinewy skin, then lard the meat with lardons (No. 2, Fig. 52). Line a saucepan with slices or fragments of veal, place the kernel on top with a few onions and sliced carrots, and lay at the side a bunch of parsley and chives; moisten with stock (No. 194a), cover with buttered paper and let boil, then put on its lid and set it in the oven for an hour and a half to two hours basting it often-the time for its cooking depends on the quality and the size. When done, drain and strain the stock. Skim off the fat, reduce it to a glaze; use some of it to glaze the kernel, and to the remaining part add one pint of espagnole (No. 414). Dress the kernel, pour some of the sauce around and serve the balance in a sauce-tureen. Serve separately a sorrel garnishing (No. 2818), a Romaine garnishing (No. 2816), a chiccory garnishing (No. 2729) or a spinach garnishing (No. 2820).

← No. 1520 Kernel of Veal a la Duchess Veal No. 1522 Kernel of Veal with half-Glaze →

For the Modern Kitchen

This is a classic braise dressed in Ranhofer's cross-referenced shorthand: strip away the numbered sauces and garnishings and what remains is a larded cushion of veal cooked slowly on a bed of trimmings. The points below translate the cuts, the vessel and the heat.

What a "kernel" isNoix de veau is the cushion or top round from the inside of the veal leg — a single rounded muscle, usually 3 to 5 lb. Ask a butcher for veal top round or a veal cushion roast; a boneless sirloin tip roast behaves similarly. This will comfortably serve eight to ten as a main course.
The udderThe tetine, veal udder, was used in nineteenth-century French kitchens and prized for the fat and moisture it gave a roast; the recipe simply directs that it be kept whole. It is not generally sold in the United States today. Omit it and compensate with barding fat or a thin sheet of caul fat tied over the meat.
Larding still mattersVeal round is very lean and this cut will dry out without internal fat. Ranhofer's lardons are strips of firm salt pork or fatback about a quarter-inch square, threaded through the grain with a larding needle. Chilling the fat strips in the freezer for fifteen minutes makes them far easier to push through.
"A saucepan" means a braising panUse a heavy lidded casserole or Dutch oven just large enough to hold the meat, and line the bottom with the slices and fragments of veal as directed — they keep the meat off the metal and build the gravy. The buttered paper goes directly on the meat, the lid over it.
Oven heatAn hour and a half to two hours for a roast of this size implies a slow oven; Ranhofer gives no temperature, but about 325F suits. Bring the liquid to a boil on the stove first, as written, then transfer. Pull the meat at an internal temperature of about 145 to 150F and rest it before carving; the instruction to baste often is worth following, since the meat is not submerged.
Stock and espagnoleNo. 194a is Ranhofer's cross-reference for stock; a good unsalted veal or chicken stock stands in. Espagnole is the brown mother sauce — brown roux, brown stock, mirepoix and tomato, simmered and strained. One pint is two cups; a well-made demi-glace, loosened with stock, is the practical substitute.
Reducing to a glazeThe strained braising liquid must be thoroughly skimmed of fat before reducing, or the glaze will break and turn greasy. Reduce until it coats the back of a spoon and pulls in ribbons; brush it on the meat in two or three coats for the lacquered surface Ranhofer wants.
The garnishingsAll four cross-references are braised greens — sorrel, romaine lettuce, chicory (curly endive) and spinach — stewed down in butter and stock and often bound with a little sauce. Any one of them, plainly braised and well seasoned, serves the purpose: something green and slightly bitter against a rich brown sauce.

A Little History

Noix de veau au jus lié comes from Charles Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894), the enormous compendium he assembled from more than thirty years as chef at Delmonico's in New York. The title is technical French, and the dish belongs to a long sequence of veal-cushion preparations that differ only in their sauce and garnish — the preceding entry dresses the same cut à la Duchesse, the following one with half-glaze. Veal held an outsized place in the grand nineteenth-century kitchen because it was mild and gelatinous, taking whatever flavor the cook gave it while contributing body to the stock; the same logic explains the veal udder, an ingredient generally traced to French charcuterie practice and now essentially gone from American butchery. Ranhofer's numbered references were meant for a brigade with basic sauces and garnishes already standing in the kitchen, which is why so short a paragraph can conceal a full day's preparation.