French Provincial Cooking - Elizabeth David [216]
PAUPIETTES DE VEAU BOURBONNAISE
STUFFED ESCALOPES OF VEAL
Paupiettes, or alouettes sans tête, are to be found everywhere in France and, indeed, in Belgium and Italy as well, but every cook has a different recipe for them.
They are primarily designed to use up small quantities of cooked meat which go into the stuffing, although this does not by any means imply a makeshift dish; with good veal and a nicely blended and seasoned stuffing they often make a ‘speciality of the house’ in France, and at restaurants there is a great demand for them when the patron’s recipe is known to be a good one.
For this particular version the ingredients are 6 slices of veal cut as for small escalopes, beaten out thin, and weighing between 2 and 3 oz. each. For the stuffing about 2 oz. of unsmoked bacon and the same quantity of cold boiled beef or chicken or a mixture of both, parsley, a small clove of garlic or a shallot, 2 tablespoons of fine breadcrumbs, 1 egg, seasoning, a few drops of cognac if possible. To cook the paupiettes, 1 oz. of butter, a small glass of red or white wine, a small onion, a little stock or broth.
Chop all the ingredients for the stuffing quite small (mincing them makes too close-textured a mixture), season with salt and pepper, add the breadcrumbs, the beaten egg and the cognac. There should be enough stuffing to fill a teacup, closely packed. Spread the veal slices out flat; season them with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Divide the stuffing into six portions and put one on each slice of veal. Roll them up, tuck in the ends to prevent the stuffing escaping, tie each round with two circles of string. In a sauté pan melt the butter, put in the finely-sliced onion; as soon as it turns very pale yellow put in the paupiettes; leave them over a moderate flame a minute or two; pour over the wine, let it bubble, then add the stock. Transfer the dish to the oven, and cook gently, uncovered, for just under an hour, Gas No. 3, 330 deg. F. The sauce should be fairly reduced and does not need any thickening. Simply transfer the paupiettes, minus their string, to a heated serving dish and pour the sauce over them; add a very little chopped parsley. Enough for three.
The same dish can be made with beef (very thin slices of topside or skirt steak) and, of course, the stuffing can be varied according to what is available, but don’t resort to sausage meat, which makes too heavy a stuffing. If you like, a very light purée of potatoes can go with the paupiettes, or triangles of fried bread.
The preliminary preparation of onions in butter which forms the basis of the sauce is, I think, particular to this recipe from a Bourbonnais cook.
POITRINE DE VEAU FARCIE AUX OLIVES
BREAST OF VEAL STUFFED WITH OLIVES
For a piece of breast of veal weighing about 4 lb. before boning, the ingredients for the stuffing are lb. of minced lean pork, a thick slice of white bread without the crust, a little milk, 8 to 10 stoned black olives, a big bunch of parsley, a clove or two of garlic, basil, pepper, nutmeg and 1 egg. Other ingredients are an onion, 2 tomatoes, 1 teacup each of white wine and water or alternatively 2 teacups of good meat broth, a little olive oil.
Soak the bread in milk until it is soft, then squeeze it dry. Chop it together with the garlic and parsley and a leaf or two of basil, either fresh or dried; add the minced pork and the roughly-chopped black olives. Season with freshly-milled pepper and grated nutmeg. Add the well-beaten egg. Spread this stuffing over the boned and flattened out breast of veal. Roll it up into a large sausage and tie securely.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a wide shallow pan or baking dish. In this cook the sliced onion until it is pale yellow, adding some sliced garlic if you like. Put in the meat and let it brown very lightly. Add the skinned and chopped tomatoes. Pour over the wine and let it reduce a little. Add the water, a little salt and the bones from the meat. Cover with oiled paper or foil, and the lid. Transfer to a low oven, Gas No.