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Grenadines of Veal
(French.) Cut 4 slices, one inch thick, from a cushion or noix of veal; flatten it and put into a saucepan with thin slices of ham and 1/2 cup of white stock, a carrot and an onion and some parsley. Cook in the oven 1 hour, basting often. Strain the sauce, pour over, and serve with peas.
A short French braise written in the shorthand of a professional kitchen, which means several things are assumed rather than stated. The point to hold onto is that half a cup of stock for four thick slices of veal is a braising liquid, not a poaching bath: the pan must be covered and the meat basted, or it will dry out long before the hour is up.
- Cushion or noixThe noix is the round, boneless cushion of the leg — sold today as veal top round. Ask for four slices cut a full inch thick from a single muscle; escalope-thin cutlets will not survive this treatment.
- GrenadinesIn French practice a grenadin is a small thick fillet of veal, usually larded and braised, shaped somewhere between a médaillon and a fricandeau. The origin of the name is uncertain, and it has nothing to do with grenadine syrup.
- The ambiguous quantityThe recipe says four slices, then "flatten it," and gives one carrot, one onion and half a cup of stock. The quantities are sparse for four thick slices; in a wider pan you will want enough stock to come partway up the meat.
- White stockA pale unroasted stock, traditionally veal bones with aromatics and no browning. Ordinary light chicken stock is the closest supermarket substitute; avoid dark beef stock, which will muddy both colour and flavour.
- Oven heatNo temperature is given. For a covered braise of this kind a moderate modern oven, around 325F, will hold the liquid at a bare simmer. Higher heat drives off the small amount of stock and the basting turns into scraping.
- Cover the panThe recipe does not say whether the pan is covered. With only half a cup of liquid for an hour, covering it for most of the cooking will keep the vegetables from scorching, uncovering to baste.
- An hour is a long timeVeal top round is very lean. Inch-thick slices braised gently will be tender at 45 to 60 minutes; check at 45 and pull them when a fork meets no resistance rather than running the clock out.
- The sauceStrained braising liquid from half a cup of stock amounts to only a spoonful or two per portion. Reducing it briskly in a clean pan, and if you like finishing it with a small piece of cold butter off the heat, gives you something worth pouring over.
- YieldFour slices serve four as a main course with the peas, or four as a middle course in the older style of menu.
Grenadins belong to the classical French repertoire of veal cookery that professional kitchens exported widely in the nineteenth century, and the label "(French.)" may be doing the work of a recommendation. The slices of ham laid under and around the meat are an older method of adding cured savour and a little fat to a lean cut, the same reasoning that produced larded fricandeau; peas were a common accompaniment to braised veal in French service, spring vegetable against pale meat and pale sauce.