Braised Neck of Veal is a traditional British recipe, based on Mrs Beeton's recipe of 1861, for a classic dish of neck of veal that's larded and braised on a bed of vegetables and bacon, fried to colour and served with a gravy made from the braising liquid. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Braised Neck of Veal.
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This is a traditional British recipe redacted from the redoubtable Mrs Beeton's 1861 volume Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, the classic Victorian cookbook.
Original Recipe
BRAISED NECK OF VEAL.
893. INGREDIENTS.—The best end of the neck of veal (from 3 to 4 lbs.), bacon, 1 tablespoonful of minced parsley, salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg to taste; 1 onion, 2 carrots, a little celery (when this is not obtainable, use the seed), 1/2 glass of sherry, thickening of butter and flour, lemon-juice, 1 blade of pounded mace.
Mode.—Prepare the bacon for larding, and roll it in minced parsley, salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg; lard the veal, put it into a stewpan with a few slices of lean bacon or ham, an onion, carrots, and celery; and do not quite cover it with water. Stew it gently for 2 hours, or until it is quite tender; strain off the liquor; stir together over the fire, in a stewpan, a little flour and butter until brown; lay the veal in this, the upper side to the bottom of the pan, and let it remain till of a nice brown colour. Place it in the dish; pour into the stewpan as much gravy as is required, boil it up, skim well, add the wine, pounded mace, and lemon-juice; simmer for 3 minutes, pour it over the meat, and serve.
Time.—Rather more than 2 hours.
Average cost, 8d. per lb.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
1 best end of veal neck (about 1.8kg)
strips of bacon (about 5cm long and 5mm in cross-section), for larding
3 slices of lean bacon
1 tbsp parsley, minced
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
freshly-grated nutmeg, to taste
1 onion, halved
2 carrots, cut into lengths
2 celery sticks, cut into lengths
60ml sherry
6 tbsp butter
2 tbsp plain flour
lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground mace
Method:
Place the parsley on a dish and season with salt, black pepper and nutmeg. Roll the larding strips of bacon in this then use to lard the surface of the veal.
Place the veal in a large pan with the bacon, onion, carrots and celery. Pour over water so that the ingredients are not quite covered. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, cover and stew gently for 2 hours, or until the veal is very tender.
Strain off the liquid and set aside. Melt the butter in a pan, scatter the flour over the top then mix to a smooth roux. Cook, stirring constantly, until the roux is brown then add the veal, skin side downwards and fry until nicely browned. Remove the veal and set aside to keep warm.
Whisk in enough of the reserved stock to make a gravy and flavour with the sherry, lemon juice and mace. Skim the surface then bring to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes.
Arrange the meat in a serving dish, pour over the sauce and bring to the table.
