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 beef 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 cold and rain at all; I liked long days and the sun burning my skin... Now everything changed and I learned to recognize the enormous beauty of autumn.

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

The fricandó is a delicious dish of traditional Catalan cuisine in which the main ingredients are veal, which is used in steaks and mushrooms , which although traditionally are senderuelas, can also be ceps (squash mushroom in Spanish), oysters or chanterelles

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

I have to say that I have composed the recipe that I am showing you a little in my own way after having read a few and observing that although all of them were very similar, in some carrots and other vegetables were added, in others the wine was changed for brandy and a few other variations.

It is a perfect dish for autumn, cooked without haste, over a very slow heat and like almost all stews, it is highly recommended to do it the day before so that the flavors settle…

And well, for me the other very important thing is having a large 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)

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

For the almond mince

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

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

Preparation

1. Salt, pepper and flour the veal fillets and set aside.
2. On a wooden board , chop the onion and tomatoes. Cut the carrots into slices and if the chanterelles are too large, reserving the smaller ones whole.
3. Heat a jet of oil in our cocotte and fry the fillets in batches. Separate and reserve.
4. In the same oil in which we have fried the fillets, brown the onion until it softens. Add the chopped tomatoes, stir and let them confite slightly. Once ready, add the wine and let it reduce a bit.
5. Add to the cocotte the reserved fillets, the bay leaf, thyme, the sliced ​​carrots, the chanterelles, the canned mushrooms and cover the whole with water.
6. Put the lid on the cocotte and cook over very low heat for about an hour and a half.
7. Meanwhile, prepare the mince. Put the almonds, parsley and garlic in a food processor together with a little of the cooking liquid. Add to the stew shortly 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 have used the Emile Henry ceramic cocotte . You can also make the recipe in an iron cocotte .