French · Main
Rognons de Veau
Veal kidneys kept rosy in a cognac-mustard cream — the bouchon test of nerve: high heat, short time, and never let them boil
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- Veal kidneys, suet and membrane removed — 2 (about 700 g)
- Fine salt — 8 g; black pepper 1.5 g
- Unsalted butter — 50 g
- Neutral oil — 20 ml
- Shallots, minced — 80 g
- Cognac — 40 ml
- Dry white wine — 100 ml
- Brown veal stock — 100 ml
- Double cream — 180 ml
- Dijon mustard — 30 g
- Wholegrain mustard — 15 g
- Chives — 8 g
- Lemon juice — 5 ml
Method
- Split kidneys; snip out the white core with scissors. Cut into 3 cm lobes. Season just before cooking.
- Heat oil and 30 g butter in a wide pan until foaming hard; sauté kidneys 2–3 min, tossing, until browned outside, rosy inside (52 °C). Drain in a colander — they weep bitter juices; discard those.
- In the same wiped pan, sweat shallots in remaining butter 3 min.
- Add Cognac, flambé; add wine, reduce by half; add stock, reduce by half.
- Add cream; simmer to a coating consistency, 3–4 min.
- Whisk in both mustards OFF the heat — boiling mustard turns bitter and grainy.
- Return kidneys 60 sec to warm through only; season with lemon.