- What is a blanquette? It’s a classic French wine-laced stew that’s finished with cream, which makes it white (blanc), thereby giving it its name. You can use pork, veal, or chicken. Here’s my recipe for an easy for blanquette de pork, and what to serve with it.
Blanquette de Porc. A classic French pork stew. Photo by Richard Swearinger.
Excuse me? You haven’t made my Blanquette de Porc? It’s one of my favorite recipes in the book. Here’s what to serve with it, and how to make it happen.
Belgian Endive Salad with Walnuts and Blue Cheese
Blanquette de Porc with Any-Night Baked Rice or Buttered Noodles
Trio of Profiteroles with a Duo of Sauces, page 370 of the Bonne Femme Cookbook
Wine Pairing: I love a steely dry Riesling from Alsace with this (Trimbach! Hugel! Pierre Spar!). Or go for an unoaked Chardonnay.
Get everything done in advance, and the day-of-work prep can be done inside of an hour. Here’s how to go about it:
One Day Ahead:
• Make the Blanquette Stew through step 2. Refrigerate the pork and the vegetables separately.
• Make the Profiteroles, but don’t fill them with the ice cream. They freeze BEAUTIFULLY!
• Make the caramel and chocolate sauces for the profiteroles (or buy great-quality sauces) (Trader Joe’s sells a lovely salted-caramel sauce that will work beautifully).
You’ve got the bulk of the work done right there!
Day of Party:
• Prep the endive leaves for the Belgian Endive Salad with Walnuts and Blue Cheese. Wrap in paper towels and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Prep the dressing for the salad. You can let this stand at room temperature if serving within 2 hours. Otherwise, refrigerate and bring to room temperature before serving.
• 1 hour before dinner:
• Refresh the profiteroles from their frozen state (about 7 minutes in a 350°F oven)
• Get the Any-Night Baked Rice going. Once it’s finished, it will stay warm for a good half-hour or so if you keep it covered in a warm place.
- Profiteroles. Serving the chocolate sauce in a little jar is optional, but cute. Photo by Andy Fjellman.
• Finish the Blanquette stew. At this point, it will be easy to de-fat the pan liquid, as the fat will have solidified-just spoon it off and discard. Bring the pork and pan liquid to a boil and continue with step 3.
• Keep the Blanquette and rice warm while you serve the salad.
• Serve the Blanquette
• Warm the dessert sauces, fill the profiteroles with ice cream; serve.
• Pour more wine, enjoy your friends. And enjoy the accolades.
[…] Blanquette de Porc Menu […]
Pork doesn t miss a beat in this classic French stew featuring pork instead of the traditional veal. Serve with crusty French rolls and a green salad dressed with garlicky vinaigrette.