Corn-Braised Veal Breast

Chef Gabriel Rucker and sous chef Erik Van Kley, Le Pigeon, Portland.

Corn-Braised Veal Breast:
5 lb. veal breast
2 bottles white wine
5 shallots, peeled and sliced
2 heads garlic
1 bunch thyme
1 bunch tarragon
1 bunch parsley
2 bay leaves
1⁄4 cup black peppercorns
6-8 corn cobs

Creamed Corn:
1 cup minced yellow onion
1 quart white and yellow corn
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. fresh thyme

Veal Bacon:
2.5 lb. veal breast
as needed, salt
as needed, smoked paprika
as needed, minced tarragon
as needed, honey

For veal breast: Roast veal in 500° oven until evenly browned. Place in hotel pan with all remaining ingredients, cover with foil and braise overnight in low temp oven. Remove veal from pan, clean off all cartilage and fold to form uniform shape. Set another pan on top with heavy weights and let cool. Cut into 5-oz. squares. Reheat in strained braising liquid.

For creamed corn: Sweat onion and garlic in butter; add corn and enough heavy cream to cover; add thyme, salt and pepper and let simmer until cream reaches thick consistency.

For veal bacon: Rub veal with all ingredients, using enough of each to coat, shake off excess, and allow to cure for 4-5 days. Smoke veal 10-15 minutes. Slice thin and crisp in bacon fat.

For dish: Set veal on creamed corn. Make salad of halved cherry tomatoes, veal bacon and whole herbs such as tarragon, chervil, parsley and chives. Dress salad with lemon juice and olive oil. Top veal with salad. Dot cream with olive oil and serve.