Confit of Veal Breast

Ingredients

• One 5-lb. slab of bone-in veal breast

• 2 cups low-salt chicken broth

• 2 cups low-salt beef broth

• 1-1/2 cups dry white wine

• 5 shallots, peeled

• 1 head of garlic, separated into cloves and peeled

• One small bunch of fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves)

• 2 bay leaves

• 1-1/2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

2. Generously season the veal breast with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place seasoned breast in a large, deep roasting pan. Roast in oven for 20 minutes.

3. Remove veal breast from the oven, and reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees. To the veal breast in the roasting pan, add the chicken broth, the beef broth, the wine, the shallots, the garlic, the thyme, the bay leaves, and the peppercorns. Cover the pan with a double thickness of heavy-duty aluminum foil, and return to the oven. Cook for 3-1/2 hours. Remove and let cool just slightly.

4. Line a sheet pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Carefully transfer the veal breast from the roasting pan to the sheet pan, leaving as much liquid as possible behind; it will be very tender, and could fall apart if not handled gently. While the veal breast is still warm, remove the bones and as much of the sticky connective tissue, membrane tissue, and cartilage as you can without tearing the meat. (Your fingers may work better than a knife.) Reserve any shards of meat that fall off the breast.

5. Strain the braising liquid, without pressing down on the solids, into a clean container. Let liquid rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, then refrigerate.

6. Cut the veal breast in half at the center (not the long way), so you have two equally-sized thick chunks of meat. Lay one chunk on top of the other, lining them up evenly. Sandwich between the two chunks the reserved shards of meat that fell off the breast (that is, if you've resisted the temptation to gobble them up). Cover the whole kit and caboodle with another piece of foil, and crimp foil around the sheet pan to seal the edges. Place another sheet pan on top of the foil packet, and weight it. (I found an unopened 12-pack of soda pop works nicely.) Refrigerate the pressed veal for at least 3 hours; overnight refrigeration is best. Prepare for serving as recommended below.

Suggestion #1: To serve the veal in the style of restaurant Fleur de Sel (which I highly recommend): Skim and discard any fat that may have solidified on top of the braising liquid. Transfer liquid to a saucepan, and heat to a gentle simmer. Taste. Reduce the liquid if you think it needs to be more concentrated in flavor. In another pan, sauté wild mushrooms and scallions in butter, caramelizing both vegetables slightly. Combine with enough braising liquid to make a medium sauce. Thicken with knobs of butter, if desired.

7. Cut the compressed veal breast with a sharp serrated knife into squares approximately 2-1/2 inches all around. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, film it with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and, when the pan is hot, add the veal chunks. Cook chunks, turning once, for a total of 4 or 5 minutes, or until the chunks are hot inside and crusty on the top and bottom.

8. Divide chunks among 4 warmed dinner plates, and top with the warm mushroom sauce.

Suggestion #2: Do the crusty veal square method, as in Suggestion #1, but sauce and garnish it differently. Lean the veal squares, for example, against a mound of mascarpone-enriched mashed potatoes. Or place them atop a bed of greens sautéed with butter and ultra-thin slices of garlic. Or surround the veal with peeled pearl onions, sautéed in butter until caramelized, and the pan deglazed with a bit of the braising liquid. Or serve the veal with French green lentils (from Le Puy), prepared according to package directions; in cooking the lentils, I substitute some of the veal braising liquid for water, and add, at the end of the cooking time, Dijon mustard and minced chives. Top lentils with a roasted tomato.

Suggestion #3: A less fussy way to do something similar to the crusty square method is to quickly brown the whole chunk of compressed veal, on two sides, in a hot pan - then cook it in a 350-degree oven until the center is warm, about 15 minutes. Cut veal breast in any size chunks or slices you wish; sauce and garnish as you will.

Suggestion #4: To de-fussify further: Simply de-fat and reduce the braising liquid, and don't turn it into a sauce - just spoon it over the meat as a braising liquid. This works particularly well with confit slices.

Suggestion #5: Enter Tom Keller. He has a very similar preparation for compressed veal in The French Laundry Cookbook - but he finishes it off differently. He likes to cut the chilled, compressed breast into two-inch rounds, then coats them with Dijon mustard and panko crumbs before sautéing them. They are served with polenta cakes and a vegetable garnish, and sauced with a thickened version of the braising liquid.

Suggestion #6: For either squares, or rounds, or slices, or a whole chunk, serve with a salad. A great assortment of greens, tossed with lardons and a walnut-oil vinaigrette, works perfectly.

Suggestion #7: Create a derivative but delicious version of the "French dip" sandwich, using crusty French rolls (split and buttered), warmed slices of veal confit, a tangle of caramelized onions, and a hot dip based on the leftover braising liquids.

Suggestion #8: Skip the hot stuff entirely. Prepare the master recipe through Step 6; the next day, thinly slice the cold veal breast and serve it with grainy mustard, horseradish, thinly sliced pickled red onions, cornichons, and a hunk of crusty bread with butter. A stein of great lager wouldn't hurt.

Suggestion #9: A throwback to the Jewish household affinity for veal breast: make a sandwich with thin, cold slices on seeded rye bread that has been smeared with…chicken fat! Try it, you'll like it! The faint-hearted can substitute butter. Lots of salt and pepper is a good addition; thin-sliced raw onion is a great one.

Suggestion #10: If you have leftovers, turn them, with onions and potatoes, into the sexiest hash you've ever tasted. A great way to begin or end a winter's day.