Recipe no. 227 from Jean-Baptiste Reboul's La Cuisinière provençale (1909), page 116.
Ingredients
- veal (noix or sous-noix)
- strips of bacon
- bacon
- onions
- carrots
- bouquet garni
- pepper
- white wine
- broth
- puree of sorrel, spinach or chicory (optional)
Preparation
- Preparing the fricandeauxFrom a noix or sous-noix of veal, cut on the bias 2 or 3 large slices 7 to 8 cm thick. Flatten lightly with a cleaver. Lard with strips of bacon.
- Preparing the braisePlace thin bacon rashers at the bottom of the saucepan. Add rings of onion, carrots, bouquet garni and whole peppercorns. Season the fricandeaux and set them in the saucepan.
- Initial cookingCook over moderate heat, letting the meats sweat. When the bottom starts to catch, baste with a glass of white wine, let it reduce. Moisten with 2 spoonfuls of broth up to half the height. Cover and finish in the oven, basting often.
- Final glazingWhen tender and nicely colored, transfer to another saucepan. Skim the fat and strain the juice, reduce it by half. Put the juice with the fricandeaux, return to the oven a few minutes while basting. They will take on a glazed color.
- Finishing with garnishServe with the preferred garnish. If garnishing with sorrel, spinach or chicory, mix into these garnishes the fat skimmed from the cooking liquid.
Reboul's text
From a noix or sous-noix of veal, cut on the bias 2 or 3 large slices 7 to 8 centimeters thick, flatten them lightly with a cleaver and lard them with strips of bacon. Place thin bacon rashers, rings of onion, carrots, a bouquet garni and whole peppercorns at the bottom of a saucepan, season the fricandeaux and set them in the saucepan.
Set to cook over moderate heat, let these meats sweat; when the bottom starts to catch, baste with a glass of white wine and let it reduce, then moisten with 2 spoonfuls of broth, up to half the height of the meats, cover and finish cooking in the oven, basting often.
When the fricandeaux are tender and nicely colored, transfer them to another saucepan, skim the fat and strain the juice, reduce it by half, and put it with the fricandeaux, which you put back in the oven a few more minutes, basting them with their juice. In a short time they will have taken on a beautiful glazed color. Serve them this way with the preferred garnish.
If you garnish them with a puree of sorrel, spinach or chicory, be sure to mix into these garnishes the fat skimmed from the cooking liquid used for their cooking.
Small Provençal glossary for this recipe
Reboul writes in French: no Provençal word appears in this recipe, apart from the dish's name itself. The table below gives the Provençal equivalents of the words used, in mistralian spelling, translated by Lingua Nostra. Each form is attested in our Provençal-English dictionary; click to open the entry.
| Provençal | English |
|---|---|
| fricandèu | fricandeau |
| roundello | rings, slices |
| susa | sweat |
| redurre | reduce |
| desgreissa | skim the fat |
Source: Jean-Baptiste Reboul, La Cuisinière provençale, Marseille, 1909, recipe no. 227, page 116. Public domain. Transcription, formatting and Provençal glossary by Lingua Nostra.