Veal Steaks with Pink Peppercorns
This is a formal dish, veal steaks sauteed in butter and served with wine sauce and butter-cooked vegetables. Hollandaise sauce adds a silky touch to the leeks which accompany the veal. Note the difference between formal and home-style service, such as the potato balls (instead of slices or chunks).
Ingredients
- Veal and Sauce
- Top round or filet veal steaks - four, 4-ounce
- Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
- Juice from 1/2 lemon
- Flour for dredging
- Clarified Butter - 1 to 2 tablespoons
- Dry white wine - 1/2 cup
- Reduced Beef Stock - 1/2 cup
- Shallots - 1/2 teaspoon, chopped
- Green Onion - 1/2 teaspoon, chopped
- Dijon mustard - 1/2 teaspoon
- Pink Peppercorns - 1 teaspoon
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1/3 cup
- Vegetables
- Leek - 1, white part only, cleaned
- Baking Potatoes - 2 to 3
- Cherry Tomatoes - 8
- Dry white wine - 1/2 cup
- Unsalted Butter - 3 teaspoons
- Parsley - 1-1/2 teaspoons, chopped
- Shallots - 1/2 teaspoon, chopped
- Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
- Hollandaise Sauce
- Egg Yolks - 1
- Dry white wine - 1/2 cup
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Unsalted Butter - 1 cup, clarified and cooled
- Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
- Parsley Leaves - 5 to 6, stemmed and chopped
Instructions
To prepare the veal and sauce: Put the veal steaks between sheets of plastic wrap and pound flat with a mallet or other heavy flat object. Season with salt and pepper (using white pepper avoids having black specks in the finished dish). Sprinkle with lemon juice and coat with flour. Saute the veal in heated clarified butter, about 2 minutes per side. Drain the butter from the pan and add half the wine. Stir up the glaze from the bottom of the pan. Remove the veal and set aside on a warmed platter.
Add the reduced beef stock, shallots, green onions, mustard, and pink peppercorns to the pan juices; stir to blend. Put the veal back into the pan. Add the cream and stir. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. If the sauce is too thick, thin with a little more white wine.
To prepare the vegetables: Quarter the leek and put in a pan with half of the wine, 1 tablespoon of butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 6 to 7 minutes, until tender. Set aside; keep warm.
Peel the potatoes. Using a melon baller, scoop 20 small potato balls. Bring a pan of lightly salted water to a boil and add the potato balls. Blanch for about 5 minutes; they should still be firm. Drain, then saute the potato balls in 1 teaspoon of the butter for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the parsley and saute for 1 more minute. Set aside; keep warm.
Saute the cherry tomatoes in the remaining wine with the chopped shallots and 1 teaspoon of the butter. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside; keep warm.
To prepare the sauce: Mix the ingredients in the top of a double boiler over boiling water (do not let the water touch the bottom of the pan insert). Whisk gently until the mixture is foamy and coats the whisk. Slowly whisk in the clarified butter. Adjust seasoning.
To serve: Place the veal steaks in a large casserole, or on individual warm serving plates. Arrange vegetables around the veal. Spoon the veal sauce over the filets. Spoon hollandaise over the leeks. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
