Fricando veal

Today's recipe is a classic that you can't miss! Juana Guindilla, author of La Cocina de Babel , brings us the traditional recipe for veal fricandó, accompanied by some delicious mushrooms and prepared in a cocotte. A perfect recipe for weekends and family celebrations. You'll love it!

I used to love summer. I didn't like the cold and the rain at all. I liked the long days and the sun burning my skin... Now everything has changed and I have learned to recognize the enormous beauty of autumn.

Short days, long nights, wet earth, ochre and golden tones... And among millions of beautiful dry leaves, small and succulent beauties like those that today, along with veal, are the stars of my recipe: mushrooms.

Fricandó is a delicious dish from traditional Catalan cuisine in which the main ingredients are beef, which is used in fillets, and mushrooms , which although traditionally are senderuelas, can also be ceps (pumpkin mushroom in Spanish), oyster mushrooms or chanterelles.

It is one of the few dishes of traditional Catalan cuisine that is prepared with beef and its origin seems to date back to medieval times.

I must say that I have created the recipe I am showing you a bit in my own way after having read a few and observing that although they were all very similar, in some, carrots and some other vegetables were added, in others, the wine was replaced with brandy, and there were a few other variations.

It is a perfect dish for autumn, cooked without rushing, over a very low heat and, like almost all stews, it is highly recommended to make it the day before so that the flavours settle…

And well, for me the other very important thing is to have a big loaf of fresh bread to dip in its delicious sauce. If you listen to me, I assure you that you will smile!

Ingredients ( for 4 people)

• 800gr of veal fin cut into thin fillets
• 3 ripe tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 2 carrots
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 300g of chanterelles (if it is not mushroom season, a good option is dehydrated chanterelles)
• A jar of assorted preserved mushrooms
• 150ml red wine
• Olive oil, salt and pepper and flour to coat the fillets

For the almond picada

• A handful of toasted almonds
• A handful of parsley
• A clove of garlic

Acacia wood board with T&G handle and ceramic cocotte by Emile Henry

Preparation

1. Season and flour the beef fillets and set aside.
2. On a wooden board , chop the onion and tomatoes. Cut the carrots into slices and, if the chanterelles are very large, also cut them into slices, reserving the smaller ones whole.
3. Heat a splash of oil in our cocotte and fry the fillets in batches. Set aside.
4. In the same oil in which we fried the fillets, brown the onion until it softens. Add the chopped tomatoes, stir and allow them to confit slightly. Once ready, add the wine and allow it to reduce a little.
5. Add the reserved fillets, bay leaves, thyme, sliced ​​carrots, chanterelles, and preserved mushrooms to the cocotte and cover everything with water.
6. Place the lid on the cocotte and cook over very low heat for approximately an hour and a half.
7. Meanwhile, prepare the picada. Put the almonds, parsley and garlic in a food processor along with a little of the cooking liquid. Add to the stew just before turning off the heat, stir and continue cooking for a few more minutes.

Acacia wood board with T&G handle and ceramic cocotte by Emile Henry

NOTE: I used the Emile Henry ceramic cocotte . You can also make the recipe in a cast iron cocotte .