Veal Stock Contest Winners

New cocktail using veal stock/veal salt: The Bloody Kantor/Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman

First, I love love love all these suggestions from the Veal Stock Contest post.  There were great drinks, including jello shots. I love the Bloody Mary with diced demi cubes (see below).  The above is the cocktail is a meal; veal stock gives it body and umami and nutrition: 1 ounce tomato juice 1 ounce veal stock, 2 ounces of gin (or OYO vodka), 1/2 teaspoon horseradish, shot of Worchestershire Sauce, lemon juice garnished with scallion, and garnished with the overall winner: Veal Salt!

Veal Salt is my personal pick of favorite veal stock innovations, offered by Josh Kantor, a 21-year-old senior economics at Occidental College in Los Angeles and part-time garde manger at Hatfield’s Restaurant.  It makes everything taste better.  I’m not usually a fan of flavored salts, but this salt puts veal stock’s power at your finger tips.  I think it’s best on plain things, popcorn as the author notes, or pasta. I made a corn tortilla soup last night (four parts chix stock, 2 parts veal stock) and seasoned the hot fried tortillas with veal salt. Love it.  I’ll be using it throughout my cooking.  Again, it spotlights veal stock’s great power: making other things taste better without calling attention to itself.

Most practical innovation goes to Ideas In Food, Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot, and who suggested braising a veal breast in plenty of water and aromatics, serving the veal breast and straining the cooking liquid.  I love the idea of building the stock making process into the meal. (They just published and excellent book called, not surprisingly, Ideas in Food.)

Most innovative use in a conventional preparation: Marc Barringer’s use in bread, replacing veal stock with water (he also throws some Guinness in there).

Each of these winners will be featured in an individual post. Winners, please send me an email.

And until the next post, have a look at the below recipes and ideas that I found enormously intriguing.

Marty Steinke

I have a very nice potato vinaigrette with veal stock. Boil one medium potato (peeled) I like touse russet. Then add the cooked potato, one diced cooked shallot and some really good red wine vinegar to a blender. Blend with about half a cup of veal stock (just enough stock to make the blender move). Then add a cup or so of good olive oil taste for salt and pepper. Serve warm with any protein, I like fish.

Deanna April

I love to make rillettes with veal stock. I used to make the chicken rillette recipe on epicurious, but I’ve since switched to using veal and veal stock. Its so good.
[note: chicken rillettes sounds really ridiculous; you are commended for switching to veal! —MR]

Chris K.

Veal stock ice cream croquettes, breaded and deep fried. Lightly season the breading with something interesting, like cardamom, cumin, and coriander.

Brad Barnett

Veal stock jello shots: The Toreadors [renamed, sorry brad]

• 1 6 ounce package plain gelatin
• 2 cups best quality veal stock
• 2 cups 100% agave Tequila
• 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Mix the gelatin, chili powders, salt and zest together, add Hot veal stock, whisk to combine.
2. When cooled to room temperature, add tequila and pour into individual 1oz paper cups. Assemble on sheet pan. Place in fridge overnight.
3. The following evening, call your friends over to party. Lie to them about what their eating and get hammered. Done.

Dave

Bloody Mary “Bubble Tea”

• 1 bottle fine vodka
• 1 bottle tomato juice
• 1 bottle tabasco
• 1 bottle worcestershire
• 1 jar prepared horseradish
• 2 lemons, cut into halves
• Sea or kosher salt
• Fresh cracked black pepper
• Firm veal demi-glace, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 jar of each pickled okra, pickled green beans, pickled quail eggs
• 4 stalks of celery

1. Pour 2 ounces of vodka into a highball glass that is over flowing with ice.
2. Add 3 ounces of tomato juice to the glass with 4 dashes of Tabasco, 2 dashes of Worcestershire, 1 teaspoon horseradish, the juice of half a lemon and a pinch of salt and pepper. Use a long spoon and stir very well.
3. Stir in 1/3 cup of your veal demi jewels.
4. Impale an okra, a few green beans and a quail egg with a cocktail pick. Place the highly decorated pick into your beverage and plant the celery stalk down into the ice.
5. Place a large mouthed straw into the libation so that the luxury of the demi-glace and tickle your tongue. Serve and repeat as needed to help your guests revive their sense of good taste.

Dave

Molasses Whiskey Bull Smash
Serves 4 young men in need of some chest hair

• 1 lemon (cut into halves, then cut each half into quarters)
• 8 sprigs of fresh sage
• 8 sprigs of fresh flat leaf parsley
• 4 ounces molasses
• 6 ounces rich veal stock
• 1 bottle fine kentucky bourbon

1. Place 1 of the quartered lemon pieces into a Boston Shaker glass with 1 sprig of sage, 1 sprig of parsley and 1 ounce of molasses.
2. Muddle the ingredients in the glass.
3. Place a few large cubes of ice into the shaker glass and pour in a shot of veal stock and a shot or so of Bourbon.
4. Shake the glass a good 15 times and strain into a rocks glass that is over flowing with ice.
5. Garnish your beverage with a piece of lemon and one sprig of sage and parsley.

KP

Veal Jam

• 1/2 cup jam (apricot, blackberry, apple, lingonberry)
• 1 tablespoon veal stock
• 1 teaspoon spirits (brandy, whisky, orange liquor) or water
• 1 tablespoon butter, small cubes
• 4 slices bread, toasted
• pinch coarse salt

As others have mentioned, my veal stock is gel cold, so warming it helps it combine with the other ingredients in this recipe for toast. I use the least creamy butter I can find, more of a baking butter. It can be completely melted into the sauce or not. Salt on top.

Sergio
[because until this comment, I’d never heard of sformato!]

How about a sformato of veal stock? Reduce the stock and enrich with some parmesan rinds and cream, then thicken with a roux and mix in the eggs. Serve warm with croutons, a gremolata and aged balsamic. Also good with seared mushrooms, a vegetable purée, sauce mornay.

Many thanks to all who shared their veal stock passions!

If you liked this post on veal stock, check out these other links:

• My recipe from the web series The Elements: Consomme
• Martin Lindsay of Alineaphile covers veal stock’s history and technique
• Veal-Stock Martini is the weird cocktail of the week from City’s Best: Boston

© 2011 Michael Ruhlman. Photo © 2011 Donna Turner-Ruhlman. All rights reserved