An Autumn Dinner For Four...Winter Veal Stew With Mushrooms, Sage And White Wine

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Talk about comfort food, this is the kind of main dish you want to serve on a cool autumn night with a great bottle of wine and a roaring fire.  That's what we did just last night.  It is also the perfect addition to an elegant buffet and goes perfect with a simple white rice with basil and mozzarella cheese.  A bottle of Brunello de Montalcino and the Caramelized Roast Pears for dessert round up a magical evening!

Ingredients

(for 4 persons)

2 Tbs finely chopped shallots or yellow onions
2 Tbs of olive oil
2 Tbs of butter
1 1/2 pounds shank or shoulder of veal, boned and rather lean, cut into 1-inch cubes
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, spread on a dinner plate or on waxed paper
18 medium dried sage leaves
2/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper (4 twists of the mill)

I cup frozen peas
Mushrooms in cream

Preparation

First prepare the mushrooms in cream. Set aside until needed.

In a deep skillet, sauté the shallots in the oil and butter over medium-high heat until translucent but not browned.

Dip the pieces of veal in the flour, coating them on all sides and shaking off excess flour. Add to the skillet, together with the sage leaves, and brown well on all sides. (If all the meat won’t fit into the skillet at one time you can brown a few pieces at a time, but dip them in the flour only when you are ready to put them in the skillet.)

Transfer the meat to a warm platter when browned.

Turn up the heat to high and add the wine to the skillet and boil briskly for about 30 seconds, scraping up and loosening any residue in the pan.

Turn the heat down to medium and add the browned meat, salt and pepper.

Cover and cook gently for about 1 hour, turning and basting the meat from time to time, adding a little warm water if necessary. (I added a little extra wine here also). The meat is done when it is tender at the pricking of a fork.

About 5 minutes before it's ready, add the peas first, cook for 5 minutes and then add the mushrooms.  Stir and cook for a minute or two. Remove from the heat and let it rest for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Mushrooms in cream

1 1/2 lbs mushrooms
1 1/2 TB. shallots finely chopped
2 1/2 TB butter
1 1/2 TB. olive oil
Salt
Ground pepper
1/2 Cup heavy cream

In a medium skillet sautee mushrooms and shallots in butter and oil on medium high..  When the mushrooms have absorbed most of the fat turn to low.  Add salt and pepper and sautee until their juices begin to come to the surface.  Raise the heat again and cook shaking the pan for another 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the heavy cream and cook fr another 2 to 3 minutes until part of the cream has been absorbed and the rest has thickened lightly.  Transfer to a platter and serve over toast immediately OR add to the veal stew at the end.

This recipe really serves 6.  Use as much as you want to for the stew and save the rest.

Serve with Rice With Basil and Mozzarella

Recipe adapted from Marcella Hazan