Medaillons De Veau En Croute
Submitted by lindafroberts
Medaillons de veau en croute: veal loin medallions seared, topped with mushroom duxelles, and baked in puff pastry. Classic French haute cuisine served with a white wine pan sauce.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
1 hrsREADY
1 hrsClassical French haute cuisine at its most elegant. Medaillons de veau en croute translates to “veal medallions in pastry," and it’s essentially beef Wellington’s more refined, more delicate cousin. Tender veal loin slices get seared briefly, then wrapped with earthy mushroom duxelles and golden puff pastry before a quick high-heat bake.
The technique is in the preparation order. Searing the veal first gives you a flavorful brown crust and builds fond for the pan sauce. The medallions then go cold into the fridge before assembly so they don’t steam inside the pastry, and the duxelles must also be fully cooled or it’ll weep into the pastry and turn it soggy.
The sauce builds from the same skillet. Shallots, white wine, and veal stock reduce down to something that coats the back of a spoon with deep, savory concentration. A few drops ladled around each plated medallion is the final flourish.
Fourteen minutes at 425°F (220°C) turns the pastry deep gold and flaky while leaving the veal inside perfectly pink. Garnish with fresh watercress sprigs for that true old-school French restaurant presentation.
Pro Tips
- Chill the assembled medallions for at least 20 minutes before baking. Cold pastry hits the hot oven and puffs dramatically. Warm pastry slumps and collapses.
- Seal the pastry edges firmly with the tines of a fork or your thumb. Loose seals pop open during baking and the duxelles leaks out.
- Use good store-bought puff pastry if you can’t make your own. Pepperidge Farm or Dufour are both serviceable. All-butter brands bake up the flakiest.
- Let the veal rest 5 minutes after removing from the oven. Cutting immediately loses all the juices onto the plate instead of keeping them in the meat.
Variations
- Swap veal for pork tenderloin medallions for a more accessible (and more ethical, for some) protein.
- Add a thin slice of prosciutto or serrano ham under the duxelles for a salty-savory layer.
- Finish the sauce with 2 tablespoons of cold butter whisked in at the end for richer mouthfeel.
Ingredients
Directions
See recipes for Puff Pastry, Veal Stock and Duxelles Stuffing.
For Veal and Sauce: Cut the loin of veal into 6 slices ½ to ¾ inches thick. Flatten the slices slightly with a cleaver or knife blade. Pat the slices dry and sprinkle with salt and white pepper. Dredge the slices in all purpose flour, shaking off any excess to leave a very light coating. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of butter over high heat. Add the meat (work in batches if necessary) and sauté until golden, shaking the pan occasionally and turning the slices once, about 2 minutes. Lower the heat to low, cover the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Transfer the meat to a platter and pour off all but 1 tablespoon of butter from the skillet. Add shallots, raise the heat, and stir for 1 minute. Add the wine, scraping up any browned bits in the pan, and boil until reduced by half. Add Veal Stock and any juices from the veal and boil until reduced by about ⅓. Strain the sauce and set it aside. Chill meat, covered.
To Assemble: On a lightly floured work surface, roll out about ⅓ of the puff pastry into a rectangle, 1/16-inch thick. Cut 6 pastry ovals roughly the shape of veal medallions but somewhat larger, to leave a generous border. Roll out remaining pastry to large rectangle about ⅛ inch thick. Cut out 6 slightly larger pastry ovals, reserving trimmings for another use.
Place the thinner set of pastry ovals on a large ungreased baking sheet. Brush the pastry lightly with egg yolk mixture, then place chilled veal medallion in the center of each oval. Spread a layer of cooled duxelles stuffing on each, mounding it slightly and dividing it evenly. Top each medallion with one of the thicker pastry ovals, smoothing it gently without stretching. Press edges of the pastry together firmly to seal. Brush pastry with egg wash. With a large round cutter or knife, trim off the edges of the pastry, leaving a ½ inch border. Use a small knife to trace a leaf pattern in the top of each pastry; score a few lines along the sides. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or longer.
Preheat the oven to 425℉ (220℃). Bake veal en croute on the center rack until golden brown, about 14 minutes. Meanwhile, reheat sauce, reducing it further if necessary until it coats a spoon lightly. Serve veal surrounded with some of the sauce and garnished with watercress sprigs; serve remaining sauce separately.
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