Rib of Veal and Morilles from Francois

At the butcher

Nice cut

Rib cooking in pan

On the plate

Veal Rib and morels

Time needed: 21/2 hours

Ingredients: . Veal Rib 2.5kg with the bone for 8 (320-350g per person). Choose the best part, i.e. the ‘wing rib’, (‘Côtes premières’ in France) and a milk-fed veal (‘Veau de lait’) whose white meat attests that he has not eaten grass or anything other than milk. You will need to go to a very good butcher. In Paris I recommend Hugo Desnoyer 45 rue Boulard, 14e, tel: 01 45 40 76 67, open Tues-Fri 7-13 and 16-20, Sat: 7-17, cl. sunday and Monday. Do not trim the fat. If possible, get a few veal bones to make the ‘jus’. . Dried morels (‘morilles’). A large glass of morel per person depending on your taste. The ‘conical morels’ imported from Argentina are very good. In Chinese cooking, dried musrooms are considered more tasty and I suscribe to this opinion although most gastronoms tend to prefer fresh morels when they are in season (In Europe: March-May). . Butter: 250g /9 ounces . Sunflower oil

Cooking:

.1. Cook the rib in an uncovered high 29cm/11.5-inch pan in a 180ºC oven for approximately an hour and 45 minutes together with the bones. You use oil initially but throw it away mid-course and replace it with unsalted butter. Take the rib off the oven and leave it to rest for at least 45 minutes outside the oven covered by an aluminum foil. This phase is important to give the meat the time to rest. It can be lenghten, i.e. your dish can wait and you can finish this part before your guests arrive. .2. Put the dried morels in some hot water so that they get impregnated after 15 minutes and there is only 1cm/0.4-inch of excess water. Put 100g/3.5 ounces of butter in a low 29cm/11.5-inch pan. Press the morels between your hands to eliminate most of the liquid. Reserve. Wait for the butter to bubble. Throw the morels in it. After a few minutes add back the water, cover and cook slowly for 15 minutes. Repeat the operation ounce or twice (Take off the morels, press the morels and reserve the liquid, heat new butter, add back the morels, then the saved liquid and cook 15 minutes). 3. Deglaze the pan where the rib has cooked with 2-3 large spoons of water. Bring to the boil. Put a block of 100g/3.5 ounces of cold butter and continue to heat. The butter and the boiling water will produce an emulsion which will be your sauce. 4. Carve the veal ribs. Cut all the meat off from the bones in one single ‘block’ and carve in reasonably thin slices with a very good knife. For this operation I found that a long sashimi knife (sashimi hocho)with a blade of 30cm/11.75inch tends to produce the best-looking slices. Salt and Sichuan pepper.

Presentation: On individual plates with the morels and the emulsion. You can add oven-cooked baby Charlotte potatoes (not in picture) or pan-fried veal sweetbread (as in the photo).

Enjoy