Veal Sauté With Cream, Cognac And Tarragon

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This is one of those recipes that is typical of French country cooking ... delicious but simple and easy to prepare. It is perfect for people like my friend Silvia who love to eat well but don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen.  I hope she's taking note.

The idea came about from the leftover veal which had been sitting in my freezer since Mother left and from the need to cook something on Halloween night that I could prepare late in the afternoon, way before the little monsters started ringing my doorbell.  A quick thumb through  Francoise Bernard's cookbook and, voilà, a decision was made.  All I added was a splash of Cognac and a few carrots.   Oh, and if you want to be really French, a baguette and a glass of French Burgundy are de rigueur!


Serves 4

Ingredients:

3 TB butter
2 small onions chopped
3 sprigs of fresh tarragon
2 lbs. boneless veal shoulder cut in 1 1/2 inch pieces
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup Cognac
1/4 cup creme fraiche or heavy cream

Directions:

 In a heavy casserole melt the butter on medium low heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until translucent.  Add the veal and tarragon stems.  Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and cook covered for 1 hour.

Lift the cover, add the Cognac and boil down.  Add the cream and tarragon leaves and cook for a couple of minutes to blend and heat the sauce.  Serve over white rice.

Adapted from Francoise Bernard, La Cuisine

Veal Scallopini With Mushrooms And A Mustard Cream Sauce

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A couple of nights ago I got a call from my friend Silvia saying she had just made my Sauteed Scallops in Mustard Sauce and loved them, particularly the sauce.  Could she use the same sauce on something else? This, if you don't know her, is a major event.  At last count I think she makes about three or four of my recipes and never tires out.  Sometimes I call her to get one of those recipes that are now long gone from my repertoire.  Over the years, as she gains more and more confidence in her cooking,  she gives them her spin  Every so often she tells me she is going to take cooking lessons.  Never happens. One thing about Silvia, though, she loves her food! When she calls with such enthusiasm I jump at the chance to throw her a line and see if I can finally hook her into cooking more often.   Last night I actually found a recipe that I thought I could get her to try.  Just so she would branch out  and give the old stuff a rest. Veal in a mustard cream sauce is a classic.  So is wild rabbit,  for that matter.  But I know the latter would never fly. When I read the recipe I thought either the mustard or the tarragon had to go;  but I was wrong.  Everything works here and the recipe is perfect for a quick Sunday dinner like we had last night or a dinner party for six.  If you get all your prep stuff done ahead of time, it comes together in less than 10 minutes.  Accompany, as suggested, with orzo or yellow rice as an alternative.  At this time of the year, the peach cobbler I served for dessert would be perfection! I am a sucker for veal as I don't always find it where I live now.  When I do, I stock up and save some in the freezer.  Fresh scallops is another luxury here, but I never buy them because I can always smell them and I never buy fish I can smell.  Every time I go to New York  one of the first things I do is walk down to my old fish market on the Upper East Side and,  if they are in season, stock up on my favorite bay scallops. (You can never smell a thing in that place.  They might as well be selling stationary).  Then I go back to Silvia's apartment and cook them in a mustard sauce with white rice, accompanied by a dry Muscadet from Sherry- Lehman.   Nirvana!  For the recipe click below.

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

 

Rustic French Meatloaf

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I have had this recipe tucked away in my files for years and just recently something reminded me of it.  It combines the simplicity of meatloaf with the flavor and depth of a French pâté and goes well paired with buttered boiled potatoes.  Leftover slices naturally make terrific sandwiches, but they’re also wonderful panfried in olive oil. Moreover, it makes an excellent dish, cold or room temperature, for a picnic or tailgating event.

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 cup fine fresh bread crumbs (preferably from a rustic loaf)

1/2 cup whole milk

3/4 cup finely chopped onion

3 large garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 lb chicken livers, separated into lobes, trimmed, and rinsed

3/4 lb ground pork

3/4 lb ground veal

1/4 cup chopped prunes

1/4 cup shelled pistachios

 2 teaspoons thyme leaves

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Accompaniment: Dijon mustard

Directions

•Preheat oven to 475ºF with rack in middle.

•Soak bread crumbs in milk in a small bowl.

•Cook onion, garlic, and 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper in oil in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Cool slightly.

•Purée livers in a blender, then transfer to a large bowl. Add pork, veal, prunes, pistachios (if using), thyme, eggs, bread-crumb mixture, onion mixture, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper and gently mix with your hands until just combined.

•Transfer meatloaf mixture to an 8 1/2- by 4 1/2-inch glass loaf pan (see cooks’ note, below) and bake, covered with foil, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 165ºF, 50 to 55 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes. Cover top of meatloaf with parsley before slicing.

Cooks’ note: You can use a metal loaf pan, but the meatloaf will take about 15 minutes longer to cook.

Serve With: buttered boiled potatoes

Recipe by Kay Chun for Gourmet
Photograph by Romulo Yanes

Memories of Berlin, Sanssouci And... Wiener Schnitzel Holstein

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This is a variation of the legendary Austrian dish and a specialty of Berlin. While Wiener Schnitzel is simply a breaded veal cutlet, it is acceptable to add a topping depending on where you eat it.

Right after the fall of the Berlin Wall I was in that city and had the opportunity to eat it this way and was hooked. It was also on that trip that I fulfilled my lifelong wish to visit Sanssouci, the summer palace of Frederick The Great in Potsdam near Berlin.

"Quand je serai là, je serai sans souci" (Once I am there, I shall be carefree)

                                                                                               Frederick the Great 1744.

After the reunification of Germany the final wish of Frederick the Great was realized. On August 17, 1991, the 205th anniversary of his death, the sarcophagus with the mortal remains of the King was laid out in the forecourt of Sanssouci palace, escorted by an honour guard of the Bundeswehr. The burial took place that night in the tomb Frederick had planned for the purpose since 1744 on the highest terrace of the vineyards that surround it. I was there much earlier, literally right after the fall and just as they were taking down the barricades, and missed seeing his grave.

If you have never visited Sanssouci I encourage you to do so as well as the Neues Palais on the western part of the park and a short walk from the summer residence. Sanssouci is a jewel of a palace, small and intimate, nothing like the grandeur of the Neues Palace which Frederick the Great built to commemorate his victories after the Seven Year's War. Architecturally, the latter rivals Versailles.  On the way back stop in Potsdam at Cecilienhof and visit the site of the conference.

Everything is in close proximity and easy to do in one day. I was lucky to travel in the car of the head of Deutsche Bank in Berlin who lent me his driver as well.  It was not only a luxury but also the only way to easily get there so soon after the fall. The palace is in the former East Germany and, although hard to imagine nowadays, to go from one side to the other in those days was quite a feat, particularly since nobody spoke English except our driver  He came along on the tour which was in German and thanks to him we were able to follow along.

I was completely unprepared for this visit and had not done as much research as I usually like to do before I visit a new place.   When after our business meeting our friend suddenly asked, "What would you like to see while you are in Berlin?" without missing a beat, I said Sanssouci! But I will never forget it for it was indeed a privilege to be there at the time. 

So that and the veal are some of my Berlin memories, although Checkpoint Charlie is not too far behind!

As to the recipe, it is very simple and straight forward. I have broken it down in case you want to omit the Holstein bit and avoid the egg. Nowadays, it is also acceptable to substitute pork for veal although, in my mind, it wouldn't be the same!

Wiener Schnitzel
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds veal scallops, divided by 4 and pounded thin as for scaloppini
1/2 cup flour
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup fine dry bread crumbs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons sunflower or canola oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 lemon

Directions

Place flour, eggs, and bread crumbs in 3 individual shallow dishes. Season cutlets with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour, shake of excess, dredge through egg, and last in bread crumbs.

Heat the oil in large skillet, add butter, and heat until foam subsides. Add 1 Schnitzel at a time to pan, brown from both sides about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to plate lined with paper towels and place in 250 degree F oven to keep warm. Repeat with other Schnitzel. Serve with lemon wedges.

Holstein Variation

4 eggs
4 to 8 anchovies
8 teaspoons capers, if desired

Fry eggs and top each cutlet with an egg. Top with 1or 2 anchovy fillets and sprinkle with capers, to taste

Recipe adapted from Food Network.
Photos Google

Polpette Al Vino Rosso For My Brother!

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If you are looking for Italian meatballs cooked in tomato sauce with red wine, this isn't it.  What this is is the most delicate of meatballs cooked in red wine with a dark red wine sauce at the end.  The best compliment came from my brother who proclaimed them the best meatballs he'd ever had and immediately took out a piece of paper to write the recipe.  That he's never done before so how's that for an endorsement!

This recipe is loosely adapted from Lorenza de Medici's.  When I served the original dish I made it exactly as the recipe called for/  We loved the meatballs but were a bit disappointed in the sauce or lack of it.  When my brother came and it was just the two of us for dinner one night, I had some uncooked ones in the freezer and decided to experiment with the sauce by adding more wine, a little tomato and some pasta water.  The result was extraordinary.

I would skip the spaghetti and serve with a baguette, a green salad and a nice bottle of wine.  That is all you need!

Ingredients

3/4 lbs ground veal**
3/4 lbs ground sirloin
handful country bread soaked in milk and squeezed dry
1 TB dry mustard
2 TB fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1 clove garlic chopped
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 TB grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
1 C all purpose flour
2 TB unsalted butter
2 TB extra virgin olive oil
1 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup Pomi Chopped tomatoes*

In a bowl combine the meats, bread, mustard, parsley, garlic, eggs and Parmesan.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. and mix with your hands until all ingredients are perfectly blended.  Form into round patties, about  inch long and dust with flour, wiping out excess.  (Do this right before you sautee)

In a frying pan, melt the butter with the oil.  Add patties and brown on both sides, turning gently, about 5 minutes.  Pour 1/2 cup wine and bring to a boil, reduce.  Add 1/2 Cup of Pomi chopped tomatoes, cover and cook for about 30 minutes.  Uncover and add another 1/2 cup of wine.  Let it reduce a bit.  If cooking pasta add some of the pasta water if needed.

*Pomi chopped tomatoes can be found in most grocery stores where the canned tomatoes are found.



**the original recipe calls for 1/2 lbs ground chicken, 1/2 lbs ground pork and 1/2 lbs ground veal.

Cotoletta A La Milanese...Veal Chops Milanese

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I had forgotten how good a breaded veal chop can be until I saw this picture.  We have become so used to having the thin veal scallopini now in fashion that you hardly ever see these on the menu anymore. When you compare the two, these are definitely juicier and tastier.  I urge you to revisit at the first opportunity!

Although hard to find in some areas these days, you should have no trouble buying them at a good supermarket.  A bit expensive but worth every penny and so easy to make!  All you need is a nice big salad and dinner is ready.

If you have the time, marinade them for an hour or two in garlic and lemon juice or Italian dressing such as Newman's Own.


4 servings


Ingredients

Freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

4 (8-ounce) veal chops pounded to ½-inch thickness

1 cup plain fine breadcrumbs

7 tablespoons unsalted butter

Salt

Lemon


Instructions

Add a pinch of pepper to eggs and lightly beat to combine. Dip veal chops into beaten egg mixture, avoiding the bone and allowing excess egg to drip off. Dredge each chop in breadcrumbs and press between palms so that breadcrumbs adhere to meat.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. As soon as butter begins to brown, add veal chops; season lightly with salt. Cook until browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side for medium-rare. Remove from the skillet and drain on paper towels. Serve immediately, or keep warm until serving.

I like to squeeze fresh lemon juice once served.

Adapted from La Cucina Italiana