Creole Grillades with Veal

Aurora Catering's

Creole Grillades and Creamy Cheesy Grits
Yield - about 3 - 1/2 gallons

Ingredients
7 lbs veal eye of the round (Trimmed of fat & cut into 1/4 inch thick steaks)
1/2 gallon milk

Dry Batter
1 lb all purpose flour
1 TBSP FRESH Cracked black pepper
1 TBSP ground cayenne pepper
1 TBSP white pepper

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 QUARTS BLUSH WINE
4 LBS ONIONS (Finely diced)
2-1/2 LBS CELERY (Finely diced))
2-1/2 LBS red and green BELL PEPPER (Mixed and Finely diced))
1 - 1/2 TBSP WHITE PEPPER
1 - 1/2 TBSP BLACK PEPPER
1 - 1/2 TBSP RED PEPPER FLAKES
8 WHOLE BAY LEAFs
1 #10 CAN TOMATO FILLETS
1/4 LB BEEF BASE

1/2 CUP FRESH MINCED GARLIC
1/4 CUP WHOLE THYME LEAFS
8 OZ FRESH MUSHROOMS (SLICED)
1 TSP GROUND NUTMEG

Method
Place the veal medallions between two pieces of waxed paper and pound with a meat mallet until the meat has doubled in diameter. Place in milk bath and chill up to 4 hours.

Over medium heat and in a large brazier and add olive oil, dust beef in a well mixed dry batter, dredge and fry in oil until light brown. Fry the beef in small batches, add no more meat then what will cover the bottom of the pot. As a batch browns, remove meat from oil and reserve warm. Scratch the bottom of the braiser to remove the residue, then add more beef and brown.

When completed add 2 cups of wine and deglaze the braiser, (you can also drain the liquid from the onions to do this). Then add onions, celery and bell peppers; sweat until onions until they are limp and translucent (about 15 minutes). The pot must be continuously stirred because the water from the vegetables will thicken the roux (flour from the batter) and greatly increase the possibility of a burn. Combine remaining ingredients and slow simmer for 20 minutes, add the browned beef and simmer for 45 minutes over low heat. Add the remaining wine as needed to keep the sauce from becoming too thick.

Remove from heat and chill.

Alternate Method
I have found that most Cajuns will cook their grillades with pork loin and most Creoles will cook theirs using veal eye of the round.

Plate Presentation
Re-heat grillades by securely covering with foil and baking at 225F for 1 hour. OR by placing the grillades in a 4 inch pan, and using a water pan as a double boiler, cover with foil and heat. Remove any oils that float to the surface, gently fold, and serve with Creamy Cheese Grits. Grillades are best the next day, chilling them allows the seasonings to marry.

Chef Notes

The best way to prepare this dish is to make it in advance, refrigerate, then reheat. This will allow the seasonings to marry, it is the key to the dish, grillades need to rest after they are cooked.

This is the dish that my family loves at Easter, we have done this for our Picnic on the Neutral Ground of Royal Street.

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