French Fridays with Dorie this week features a stew - Veal Marengo. Less poetically, it is veal stew with tomatoes and mushrooms - and in our case, potatoes and onions.
I bought veal during my epic trip to the posh end of town for lobster.
I really enjoyed this stew - it was very hearty and flavoursome. Except for the fact that I found it rather fussy to make, I would make it again.
To see what the other Doristas thought of this dish, visit the LYL section of the FFWD website.
The dish has an interesting history: According to the Larousse Gastronomique, at Marengo on June 14, 1800, Napoleon ate nothing before the battle. Having defeated the Austrians, he was a long way from his supply wagons, and the quartermaster could find only "three eggs, four tomatoes, six crayfish, a small hen, a little garlic, some oil and a saucepan. Using his bread ration, Napoleon's chef Dunand first made a panade with oil and water... ."
ReplyDeleteBonaparte insisted on having this simple rustic dish over and over again for good luck, and objected to any changes, though Dunanad wanted to improve and make the dish more classical.
Looks and sounds good to me!
ReplyDeleteOh this one looks so good, going to need to pull out the book and mark this one before comfort food season is over here, we are approaching spring! I love that green plate. Okay, and the plate with the dots, and the plate with the flowers, and the plate with the people, etc. I am going to need to come for a week just to eat off all my favorite plates of yours!! :-) I wish.
ReplyDeleteI agree it was fussy - the whole idea of making the veg separately from the meat? I didn't do it (shock!). But definitely flavourful (at least in my version, am sure with veal it would have been great too!).
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree, a LOT of steps. Next time I'd make it like Mardi and others---and throw it all together like a traditional stew :)
ReplyDeleteI guess it was a bit fussy in the end, wasn't it? I made the meat earlier in the day and then made the veggies just before serving that night. Glad you liked it!
ReplyDeleteIt is a fussy recipe... I assure you if you just throw it in a slow cooker it comes out fine. You might still want to brown the meat first. But the vegetables can be cooked with the veal.
ReplyDeleteFussy to make for sure. My little stove was barely able to accommodate all those pots-n-pans and I had several timers going at once to try to keep track of everything.
ReplyDeleteI agree, not my normal way of making a stew, but
ReplyDeletedelicious all the same.
Gaye, although there might have been a few steps involved in the preparation of this recipe, I am certainly glad that you enjoyed this lovely Veal Marengo in the end! It looks wonderful - a recipe that we all seem to have agreed upon!
ReplyDeleteHave a nice weekend,
Andrea
Gaye, Your Veal Marengo looks wonderful! This was well received in my house…we love stews! I think some of the steps could have been eliminated…I put my mushrooms and small onions in the pot with the rest of the ingredients! It was delicious!
ReplyDeleteI think we all agree, Gaye, that there were probably some unnecessary steps in this recipe. I am sure Napoleon's chef didn't have a dishwasher on the battlefield so he probably cut corners also. Remembering this version of Veal Marengo comes from Le Cordon Bleu. What does that say? Please tell your friend who blogs at Mae Travels that this Battle was the basis for Puccini's opera, Tosca. I enjoyed reading additional history about this dish.
ReplyDeleteI love your description of your shopping trip! I still have a lobster tail hanging out in the freezer, awaiting the vanilla treatment.
ReplyDeleteYour stew looks wonderful! I made the vegetables separately, just to see what it was like, but I think I'd throw them in with the rest of the stew next time. And maybe serve Dorie's butter-glazed carrots on the side, instead.
It was definitely fussy and I would do a one pot meal next time. Most folks who put it into one pot seem to have success.
ReplyDeleteLobster and veal in one trip? SOunds like an expensive trip :-)
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed.
Just catching up from vacation last week... Glad you enjoyed this one. Me too. I agree with you about the fussiness of cooking all the vegs separately, but it did taste great in the end.
ReplyDeleteShopping on the posh end of town for groceries? How funny! I'm glad you enjoyed this one.
ReplyDelete