Fricadelles

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Small food processor or sharp chef's knife
• •10-inch (25 cm) oven-safe sauté pan
• •Broad flexible spatula
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Chill the working parts

   Set an oven rack in the center and heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Chill the food processor bowl and blade for ten minutes with the veal and diced butter nearby in the cold. If you have no processor, use a sharp chef's knife on a chilled board and chop the veal and butter together in small batches; that is closer to the original method, only slower.

   The source ratio contains two parts veal to roughly one and one-third parts butter by weight. That sounds extravagant because it is. Use very lean veal and keep the butter cold, or the balance turns greasy rather than tender.
2. 2

   Cook onion, soak bread

   Melt the tablespoon of butter in a small pan over low heat. Add the onion and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until completely tender but still pale, then spread it on a plate to cool. Soak the bread crumb in the cold water until saturated, gather it in a clean towel, and squeeze with conviction until no more water drips. Measure the required 57 g after pressing. Water left in the bread loosens the mixture and encourages the fricadelles to crack.

3. 3

   Chop and bind

   Pulse the chilled veal briefly until finely chopped but not pasty. Add the cold diced butter and pulse in short bursts until it is evenly dispersed in fine pale flecks. Transfer the mixture to a cold bowl and add the pressed bread, beaten egg, cooled onion, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Mix firmly by hand or with a wooden spoon until cohesive and slightly tacky. If the butter smears against the bowl or the mixture becomes shiny, stop. Ça se rattrape: spread it shallow in the bowl, chill it for ten minutes, then finish mixing by hand.

4. 4

   Shape the quoits

   Dust a board lightly with the flour. Divide the mixture into four equal portions, roughly 3½ ounces (100 g) each, and roll them gently into balls. Flatten each with the broad side of a knife into a quoit-like disc about 3 inches (7.5 cm) across and ¾ inch (2 cm) thick, with no hole in the center. Dust only enough to prevent sticking. If the edges crack, press them together with cool fingertips rather than kneading flour into the meat. Chill the shaped fricadelles for ten minutes.

5. 5

   Brown, then oven-finish

   Melt the browning butter in a 10-inch (25 cm) oven-safe sauté pan over medium heat. When its foam subsides, add the fricadelles with space between them and brown for 2 to 3 minutes per side, turning with a broad spatula only after a firm bronze crust has formed. If one resists the spatula, give it another thirty seconds; forcing it early tears the surface. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for 6 to 9 minutes, until the centers reach 160°F (71°C). If your pan cannot go into the oven, move the browned fricadelles to a preheated metal baking tray. Rest them for three minutes.

6. 6

   Serve from the platter

   Warm the vegetable purée and Sauce Piquante separately over gentle heat while the fricadelles finish. Spoon the purée generously onto a warm round platter, arrange the four fricadelles over it, and let the glossy Sauce Piquante pool around them without covering their bronzed tops. The source also permits Sauce Robert in place of the Piquante, but choose one sauce, not both. Bring the platter straight to the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask for veal as lean as the butcher can provide. Ordinary fatty mince, combined with the source's full measure of butter, leaves too much loose fat in the pan and too little structure in the fricadelle.
• •The butter quantity is deliberate, not a copying error. It replaces the fat removed from the veal and gives the finished center its tenderness. We don't apologize for butter, but we do keep it cold.
• •Sauce Piquante is the liveliest companion because its vinegar and cornichon character cuts through the butter. Sauce Robert, sharpened with mustard, is the source's other named choice; serve either as a finished component and don't bury the crust.
• •The cooked-meat branch of the original entry is a separate formula, not this mixture made with leftover veal. It binds cooked veal with baked-potato pulp, pale butter-cooked onion, egg, and parsley, then shapes smaller fricadelles and cooks them by the same pan-to-oven method.
• •A light red with good acidity, such as Beaujolais-Villages, suits the veal and Sauce Piquante. Pour modest glasses and leave the platter within reach of whoever wants the second helping.

Advance Preparation

• •Shape the fricadelles up to eight hours ahead, set them on a lightly floured plate, cover, and keep them cold. Bring them directly from the cold to the hot butter so the bind stays firm.
• •The vegetable purée and Sauce Piquante may be prepared a day ahead and chilled separately. Reheat each over low heat while the fricadelles finish, stirring the purée often and never boiling the sauce.
• •Cooked leftovers keep for two days in the cold. Reheat them covered in a 325°F (165°C) oven with a spoonful of Sauce Piquante beside them, stopping as soon as their centers are hot.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 290g)