09 Feb Herb Crusted Veal Roulade with Creamy Leek Sauce & Savory Chocolate Gravy
You can make this dish with either of the sauces or both for a nice visual and taste bud treat. We used free-range veal here, as the cook in charge (in this case our talented photographer Kelly Cline) is convinced it has more flavor while remaining succulent. You can also substitute chicken breast in this recipe.
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the roulade:
1-lb. veal cutlet (ask the butcher to cut it about 5/8″ thick from a whole top round)
Two pinches sea salt, finely ground
3 Leek Leaves, opened with the green tops cut off, softened in warm salt water
1 cup Wild Rice with Leeks and Portabello Mushrooms (recipe below)
2 tablespoons melted butter
½ cup fresh chervil, finely chopped
For the sauces:
Savory Chocolate Gravy (recipe below)
Creamy Leek Sauce (recipe below)
Preparation
For the leeks:
Soak leeks in a water bath to remove the dirt and carefully remove. Place them into a warm salt water bath to soften.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
For the veal:
Pound the veal cutlet until it is a thin rectangle (about 5″x10″), being careful not to pierce any holes in it with your mallet (or the filling will spill out). Lay the pounded cutlet on a large piece of parchment (or wax) paper to ease in the rolling process. Lay the cutlet down on the paper and season it with a pinch of finely ground sea salt.
[Chef’s Note: If you do not have a kitchen mallet, you can also use a heavy pan or rolling pin to pound out the veal cutlet.]
Remove the leeks from the bath and lay them slightly left of center of the cutlet, parallel to the long sides. Spoon and spread the rice mixture evenly over the leek sheets.
Carefully roll the veal cutlet and stuffing, using the parchment paper to help keep the shape of the roll. Tie it with kitchen twine at ½-inch intervals to keep the roulade’s shape while it cooks. Brush the outside with melted butter and roll the roulade in the chopped chervil.
Place the meat in baking dish, cover loosely with aluminum foil and place it in the oven for approximately 30 minutes, or until it reaches 150 degrees F. Remove it from the oven and let it rest for ten minutes before slicing and plating.
Service
Spoon some of the leftover rice in the center of each plate. Place 1-inch slices of roulade on top of the rice (with the filling facing up) and dress with the sauces, one on each side.
Wild Rice with Leeks and Portabello Mushrooms
Ingredients
2 cups wild grain rice cooked in beef broth
1 portabello mushroom, gills and stem removed, finely chopped
1/8 cup leek, whites only, finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter
freshly ground white pepper
Preparation
Heat butter in a small sauté pan. Add leeks and mushrooms and sauté until they release their aroma and juices, and the leeks are just beginning to turn clear. Season with a pepper to taste and add the mixture to the wild rice.
Creamy Leek Sauce
Ingredients
1/2 cup leeks, chopped and cooked until soft in 1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
Preparation
Cook the leeks and process in a blender with leftover broth until smooth. (Be careful to let it cool slightly before blending to prevent an explosion of heat.) Strain mixture through a cheesecloth and set aside.
Place wine and chicken broth in a medium sauce pan. Using a very low flame, reduce the sauce to ¼ its volume, careful not to scorch the sauce. Add the butter and strained leek juice to the reduced mixture and remove from heat. Fold in the cream to prevent curdling.
Savory Chocolate Gravy
Ingredients
2 cups beef broth
2 cups red wine (we used Merlot here)
1/8 cup currants
4 kumquats, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsweetened chocolate, grated
1 tablespoon butter
½ teaspoon butter
½ teaspoon flour
Preparation
Combine wine and beef broth in a medium sauce pan and reduce by ½. Add currants, kumquats, chocolate, and butter, whisking lightly to blend.
Blend the remaining butter and flour together and add into sauce for thickening. Cook several minutes to allow flour taste to cook off.
Recipe and photo by Kelly Cline