Yesterday I was in the mood to try some french classic dishes, such as oeuf en cocotte, blanquette de veau and Paris-Brest. The whole afternoon I spent in the kitchen, trying two times the choux pastry for the Paris-Brest for a better result, preparing everything for blanquette de veau, a real comforting veal stew. In the evening i ate alone, but the next day after a very satisfying walk at the Isar next to my house, some friends were coming, and we had a real festive lunch together with rosé wine and the leftover from the night before, which was even better the next day. The recipes i created in some trials, with the ideas of different cookbooks.

Blanquette de veau ( Veal Stew )

for four persons

• 550 g veal shoulder, cut in 3 cm cubes
• 2 onions
• 4 cloves
• 1 garlic clove, sliced
• 1 carrot , cut into cubes
• 1 stick celery ,sliced
• 1 leek, white part sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• some thyme, parsley and tarragon, bound together with a string
• 1/4 l white wine
• juice of half a lemon
• 150 g mushrooms
• 60 g butter
• 30 g flour
• 80 ml cream
• 1 egg yolk
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• chopped parsley to garnish

Bring enough water to cover the meat in a big pot to a boil, add the meat and cook for one minute ( skim any scum away ).Then slice one onion and pick the other with the cloves. Add to the pot together with the garlic, carrot, celery, leek, bay leaves, herbs and white wine. Season with salt and simmer for 1 1/4 hour, until the meat is tender.Then put the meat and vegetables out of the pot.

Melt 40 g of the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and whisk until everything is thickening. Add this mixture to the pot with the broth whisking until the broth starts to thicken.

Melt the remaining 20 g butter in a saucepan and cook the sliced mushrooms until tender and add some lemon juice. Put them in the big pot together with the meat and vegetables and warm again.

Mix together the cream with the egg yolk and remaining lemon juice.Take 2 tbsp of the broth and stir into the cream mixture, then whisk into the big pot . Don’t cook again because the egg yolk will curdle.

Season if necessary, garnish with parsley and serve with basmati rice

Paris-Brest

for the choux pastry

• 125 ml water
• 125 ml milk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 87 g butter
• 125 g  flour
• 4 eggs, lightly whisked
• 2 tbsp flaked almonds

Bring the water,milk, salt, sugar and butter to a boil. When the butter is melted, add the flour , whisking constantly . Take away from fire, add the half of the egg mixture and stir together. The same with the rest of the eggs, but leave a bit to brush the pastry after. Put the pastry in a piping bag which is 2,5 cm open and pipe for equal rings .Brush the remaining eggs on the rings and garnish with flaked almonds. Bake in the on 160° preheated oven for 45 minutes. Immediately cut the ring horizontally into two equal parts. Leave to cool.

for the praline buttercream

• 80 g praliné
• 360 ml milk
• 145 g softened butter
• 2 egg yolks
• 55 g sugar
• 25 g Maïzena

Heat the milk with half the sugar. Mix together the remaing sugar with the egg yolks and Maïzena. Stir 3 tbsp of the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture, put everything back to th milk and stir until the mixture is thickening. Leave to cool. With an electric mixer fold in the butter and then the praline. Put in the refrigerator. When ready to serve pipe the cream between the two parts of the choux pastry.