Veal Stew Forestière
This French Veal Stew Forestière is filled with tender chunks of veal, luscious cream, woodsy thyme, earthy mushrooms, and the salty crunch of crisped prosciutto. If you want to take your stews to the next level, try this, and don’t look back.
Forestière is a traditional flavoring combination of mushrooms, cream, and typically ham that brings earthy yet rich flavors to your dish. If you’ve read some of my past recipes, you’ll find I’m a huge fan of shallots and sherry; this recipe is no exception. The shallots add a delicate sweetness, while the sherry highlights each bite with a crisp, tangy, and nutty profile.
This stew takes under twenty minutes of hands-on time yet delivers a flavor profile that will leave you and your guests speechless; it’s that delicious.
Beurre Manié
Have you ever wondered how top restaurants (and chefs) get their soups and sauces to such a thick, creamy state with a perfectly glossy sheen? The secret to a creamy soup is effortless once you learn how to prepare a beurre manié, a French term for “kneaded butter.”
Flour is often used as a thickening agent in cooking, yet adding flour directly to the soup would cause large doughy lumps. The flour wouldn’t spread easily, making the dish unappealing if not uneatable. Roux and beurre manié are used to thicken soups without the flour clumping. A roux is cooked, yet a beurre manié is not. Instead, softened butter and flour are kneaded or mashed together until combined, then whisked into hot sauces or soups. Because the butter coats the flour it can be incorporated smoothly into your soup or sauce. Viola, delicious creamy soup with a sheen!
Veal Stew Forestière
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or ghee (or a combination)
- 1 ½ pounds veal stew meat cut into inch-sized pieces
- 4 shallots diced
- 2 cloves garlic diced
- 12 ounces wild mushrooms thickly sliced or quartered. (Shiitake, oyster, cremini)
- ½ cup dry sherry
- 2 cups beef stock
- 6 stems thyme fresh
- 2 slices prosciutto
- 1 tablespoon butter room temperature
- 1 ½ tablespoons flour
- ¼ cup cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
Plating
- buttered egg noodles or white rice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 °F.
- In a medium-sized Dutch oven, heat the olive oil on medium-high heat. Sear the cubes of meat on all sides to add caramelized flavor. The meat will not be cooked through. Remove the browned meat to a bowl.2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 ½ pounds veal stew meat
- Add more olive oil or butter to the pot and lower the heat to medium-low. Add the shallots and the garlic and sweat very gently for 1 minute until the shallots are translucent, and the garlic is fragrant.4 shallots, 2 cloves garlic
- Add the mushrooms to the pot, and turn up to medium. Cook until soft and a touch brown around the edges: 6 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.12 ounces wild mushrooms, Salt and pepper to taste
- Deglaze the pan with the sherry. Turn the heat up so that the sherry bubbles and reduces by a quarter.½ cup dry sherry
- Add the meat back into the pot. Add the beef stock and the thyme. Cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat and place in the oven.2 cups beef stock, 6 stems thyme
- Bake at 300 °F for two hours.
- Meanwhile, in a medium-sized heavy pan, cook prosciutto until crispy. Break the crispy ham into salty shards.2 slices prosciutto
- Make a beurre manié by mashing together the butter and the flour.1 tablespoon butter, 1 ½ tablespoons flour
- When the stew has cooked for two hours, remove the Dutch oven, set it on top of the stove and uncover. Remove the thyme stems. Stir the beurre manié into the stew and let it simmer for two minutes or until it has noticeably thickened. Stir in the cream.¼ cup cream
Plating
- Plate the egg noodles (or ice) into a serving bowl. Ladle the stew over the noodles. Top with the crispy shards of prosciutto.buttered egg noodles or white rice
Kitchen Equipment
Nutrition
De Froid Tip: Garnish
A simple, fresh herb garnish can elevate your dish and presentation to new levels while taking only seconds to achieve! Below, the Prosciutto-wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Bourbon Mustard Glaze gets an instant facelift with fresh parsley.
Grab a small bunch of parsley. With your kitchen shears (scissors), snip off tiny slices of the herb and let it naturally fall onto your entrée! Set a few full stems on the side, and you have just created a visual presentation that will wow your guests!
Welcome to Foodie de Froid!
If you love real food, take pleasure in eating, and strive for mouth-watering flavor, you have come to the right place. Here the star of the show IS the food, presenting it in a way that makes it shine.
Tasting Experiences
We feature many appetizers and individual-sized recipes as a purposeful way to experience and share food.
Our mouth reacts to flavors in a transitional way. That first taste creates an exciting experience with the food’s intense flavors, textures, and visual appeal. Yet after the first few bites, our mouths and minds adjust, and that experience deadens.
Thus, the tasting experience! We served 14 consecutive courses at my last tasting party. Each was purposely selected to bring new flavors, textures, and presentations, creating surprises and wow moments throughout the night.
The Recipes
The recipes are documented with ingredients we love. Yet my greatest hope is to have you understand why the recipes work and eventually make them into your personal version using your favorite ingredients and presentations.