Veal is among the most popular meat in the market today. It is as nutritious as regular beef (maybe more so) and it is tenderer and much easier to cook than regular beef. Some also say veal makes a dish more flavorful, too. Now I don’t know if that’s really true, but I do know that Braised Veal Cheeks with Maple-Glazed Veal Loin, Candied Apple, Polenta, and Root Vegetables is both a nutritious and flavorful dish. You don’t believe me? Try this recipe out and find out for yourself.
Serves: 4
VEAL CHEEKS
10–12 pieces veal cheeks
1 oz clarified butter
1/2 cup flour, seasoned
To taste, salt
To taste, freshly ground black pepper
4 oz onions, small dice
3 oz carrots, small dice
2 oz celery, small dice
4 oz morels, quartered
1 oz garlic, sliced thin
2 oz shallots, minced
4 Roma tomatoes, peeled and seeded
1 sachet (rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, peppercorn, parsley stems)
1/2 cup California chardonnay
6 cups fortified veal stock
POLENTA
1 cup milk
1/2 cup Giancarlo’s Brodo
1/2 tsp chopped basil
1/4 tsp chopped thyme
3 Tbsp butter, unsalted
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
To taste, salt
To taste, freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated parmesan
2 Tbsp butter, unsalted, cold
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
VEAL LOIN
2 cups apple cider
6 oz maple syrup
1 apple, chopped
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
3 oz butter, unsalted
Four 6-oz veal tenders or mignons cut from the loin
To taste, salt
To taste, freshly ground black pepper
4 Tbsp olive oil
ROOT VEGETABLES
1 cup apple cider
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup white port wine
4 Tbsp high-quality butter, unsalted, cold
1/2 cup peeled, cut, and shaped turnip
1/2 cup peeled, cut, and shaped parsnip
1/2 cup roll-cut carrots
1/2 cup medium diced sweet potato
1/2 cup paysanne-cut rutabaga
4 Tbsp butter, unsalted, cold and diced
To taste, salt
To taste, freshly ground black pepper
CANDIED APPLE
Eight 1/8 -in. slices apple
As needed, simple syrup
VEAL CHEEKS
1. Clean the veal cheeks by removing excess fat and connective tissue from the surface of the meat. Heat the butter over medium-high heat. Dredge the cheeks in the seasoned flour and then place in the hot butter. Brown both sides well and season with salt and pepper.
2. After a fond begins to form on the surface of the brazier, add the onions, carrots, celery, and morels. Continue cooking until the vegetables are well browned. Add the garlic, shallots, and tomatoes.
3. When the tomatoes, garlic, and shallots are cooked out, add the sachet and the wine and reduce until the liquid is almost like syrup. Add the veal stock and bring the liquid up to a simmer. Braise the cheeks for about 2½ hours at 350°F. Remove the cheeks from the pot and place on a oven tray.
4. Glaze them by brushing them with some of the reduced braising liquid at 350°F for about 5 minutes. Let the liquid form a nice coating on the cheeks.
5. Reduce the leftover braising liquid to sauce consistency. Adjust the taste. Remove the sachet. Do not drain the sauce.
POLENTA
1. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the milk, brodo, basil, thyme, and butter to a boil. Slowly add the cornmeal while stirring continuously with a wooden spoon.
2. When all the cornmeal is incorporated, stir over low heat for 10–12 minutes until the polenta is smooth and starts to thicken. Season with salt and pepper. Fold in the parmesan, butter, and olive oil.
VEAL LOIN
1. In a stainless-steel saucepan, simmer the cider, syrup, chopped apple, clove, cinnamon, and butter until the liquid is reduced to a syrup. Strain well into a stainless-steel pan.
2. Season the tenderloins with salt and pepper and pan-sear them in the oil until brown on all sides.
3. Place the meat on a baking rack in a roasting pan. Brush with the syrup and roast in a 350°F oven until done to medium, 8–10 minutes, basting with the syrup at least 3 times. Remove the meat from the oven. Brush with the syrup once more.
ROOT VEGETABLES
1. In a stainless-steel saucepan, boil the cider, maple syrup and wine until reduced by one-half, about 30 minutes. Whisk in the butter.
2. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
3. Peel all of the vegetables and cut them int 1/2 -in. pieces of different shapes.
4. Fill a 4-qt pot with water and add 2 Tbsp salt. Blanch all vegetables in the salted water for 5 minutes. Drain well.
5. Toss the vegetables in the cider mixture. Place in a roasting pan with the butter.
6. Roast in the 425°F oven 20–30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender and golden. Season with salt and pepper.
CANDIED APPLE
1. Dip the apple slices in the syrup and place them on a Silpat.
2. Dry in a 160°F oven until crisp, about 2 hours. These can be made the night before or in advance and stored in an airtight container lined with a Silpat.
ASSEMBLY
1. Fill ramekins or small service pots two-thirds full of polenta. Top with cheeks and sauce and place on the plates.
2. Cut the loin into 2 or 3 pieces, shingle them on the plates, and drizzle with sauce from the cheeks.
3. Spoon on the vegetables. Garnish each plate with 2 candied apple slices.
Braised Veal Cheeks with Maple-Glazed Veal Loin, Candied Apple, Polenta, and Root Vegetables is like a complete meal. You get protein from the meat, vitamins and minerals from the root vegetables and apples, and dietary fiber and carotenoids from the polenta. For those of you who don’t know what polenta is, it is a thick creamy substance made from cornmeal or semolina. Most often though, the ingredient used is cornmeal. And who doesn’t like cornmeal? Moreover, with this dish, you get the main course and dessert in one satisfying dish. Brilliant, right? So what are you waiting for? Prepare this for yourself now, or for a special someone. Bon appétit!