Medallions of Veal with Sauce Nantua and Wine-Butter Sauce
Lightly sauteed veal medallions sandwich mushroom filling with bits of foie gras. For this formal service, the medallions are served on a bed of wilted spinach and surrounded by Sauce Nantua, a crayfish-based sauce. The plates are garnished with crayfish heads and tail medallions. Butter-glazed asparagus spears and tourneed zucchini finish the garnish. “Tourneed” means the zucchini have been cut in two, then each half is carved into an oval shape with the dark green skin on the top of the oval.
Ingredients
- Sauce Nantua
- Olive Oil - 1 tablespoon
- Crayfish - 15 small (reserve the 2 largest for garnish)
- Garlic Bulbs - 1, cut in half
- Mirepoix - 1 cup (onion, carrot, celery stalk, and leek, minced)
- Peppercorns - 1 teaspoon, crushed
- Bay Leaf - 1
- Button mushrooms - 4 tablespoons, chopped
- Cognac - 1/2 cup
- Tomatoes - 1 cup, chopped
- Parsley - 2 tablespoons, chopped
- Tarragon - 1 tablespoons, chopped
- Tomato Puree - 1/2 cup
- Fish stock - 4 cups
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1/2 cup
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Cayenne pepper to taste
- Wine-Butter Sauce
- Unsalted Butter - 1 tablespoon
- Shallot Puree - 4 tablespoons
- Bay Leaf - 1, crushed
- Whole White Peppercorns - 1 teaspoon
- Dry white wine - 1 cup
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1/2 cup
- Unsalted Butter - 8 ounces
- Lemon Juice - 1 teaspoon
- Chives - 1 teaspoon, chopped
- Stuffing
- Unsalted Butter - 2 tablespoons
- Shallot Puree - 1 tablespoon
- Dry white wine - 3/4 cup
- Button mushrooms - 2 tablespoons, chopped
- Cepes Mushrooms - 2 tablespoons, chopped
- Shiitake Mushrooms - 2 tablespoons, chopped
- Chanterelles - 2 tablespoons, chopped
- Garlic puree - 1 teaspoon
- Veal Stock - 1/2 cup
- Salt to taste
- Coarsely-ground pepper to taste
- Chives - 1 tablespoon, chopped
- Dry white wine - 1/4 cup
- Foie gras - 2 ounces, chopped
- Veal
- Veal Medallions - 4, 1/4-inch
- All-purpose flour
- Salt and freshly ground white pepper
- Olive Oil - 1 tablespoon
- Garnish
- Unsalted Butter - 2 tablespoons
- Fresh Spinach - 15 leave, stemmed, blanched, and drained well
- Olive Oil - 1 tablespoon
- Baby Zucchini - 2, trimmed and cut in half lengthwise
- Asparagus tips - 8, blanched
Instructions
To prepare the sauce Nantua: Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the live crayfish and saute for 1 minute. Add the garlic, mirepoix, peppercorns, bay leaf, and button mushrooms. Cook for another minute. Add the cognac, avert your face, and ignite with a long match; shake the pan until the flames die down. Pour the contents of the saute pan into a large saucepan and mash with a heavy spoon. Add the chopped tomato, parsley, tarragon, and tomato puree. Put the saute pan back on the heat and add the fish stock; stir up the glaze from the bottom. Pour into the saucepan over the crayfish and vegetables; add water if necessary to cover the ingredients. Roughly mash the contents of the pan again, then simmer for 20 minutes. Strain through a chinois or fine-meshed sieve into a saute pan. Cook until reduced by two-thirds in volume. Add the cream and adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Simmer 5 to 10 more minutes, until reduced by half. Strain again and set aside; keep warm.
To prepare the wine-butter sauce: In a saute pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shallot puree and saute for 1 minute. Add the bay leaf and peppercorns. Add the wine and stir up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook over medium heat until reduced by two-thirds in volume. Add the cream and heat for 1 minute. Add the butter, a fourth at a time, and whisk briskly to incorporate. Adjust the heat by moving the pan on and off the heat so that the butter does not melt into yellow streaks; if streaks appear, take the pan off the heat and whisk in cold butter until emulsifies again. Strain through a chinois or fine-meshed sieve and set aside. Keep warm over tepid water or in an insulated container.
To prepare the stuffing: In a saute pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add shallot puree and saute for 1 minute. Add the wine and stir up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add all the chopped mushrooms, garlic puree, and veal stock. Reduce for about 2 minutes, until the liquid has evaporated. Add the salt, pepper, and chopped chives. Put the mixture into a bowl. Return the saute pan to the heat and add 1/4 cup of wine; stir up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour the wine into the bowl with the stuffing mixture. Fold in the foie gras. Set aside; keep warm.
To prepare the veal: Season the veal with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour. Spank off the excess. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat and quickly saute the veal slices, turning once. Drain on towels. Place two veal medallions on a work surface and put stuffing on top of the medallions; top with the remaining veal medallions, creating a sandwich. Set aside; keep warm.
To prepare the garnish: Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a saute pan and saute the spinach for 30 seconds, or until warmed through. Set aside. Heat the oil in another saute pan and saute the zucchini for 1 to 2 minutes. Set aside. Heat the remaining tablespoon of butter in another small saute pan and saute the asparagus tips for 1 minute to warm. Twist the tails off the two reserved crayfish. Shell the tail and cut the meat into three medallions; reserve the head portion and the tail medallions.
To serve: Make a bed of sauteed spinach on each warmed serving plate. Top with a stuffed veal medallion. Garnish each plate with 1 of the reserved crayfish heads and 3 crayfish tail medallions. Spoon Sauce Nantua around the spinach on the plate. Add lemon juice and chives to the wine-butter sauce and spoon over the veal. Garnish each plate with zucchini and asparagus tips.
