Food
Veal Good
Tasty, easy, healthy recipes with veal.
ANNABEL COHEN
Special to the Jewish News
V
eal is among the most luxuri-
ous of meats. Young veal is
lean and pink when raw and
creamy white when cooked. Its flavor
is often described as "delicate."
Served pan fried with a wine-based
sauce, veal can be quite elegant.
Tougher veal cuts, like those in its
older counterpart, beef, are perfect for
stews. The famous Italian stew osso
buco (literally hollow bone), made
with veal shanks, is a good example.
It's no coincidence that many tradi-
tional veal recipes have European-
sounding names. While authorities
agree that the majority of Americans
have never even tasted veal, Europe's
population eats it often.
As with many meats served around
the world, eating veal is not associated
with American culture. Change is on
the way with veal appearing on more
mainstream, usually high end restau-
rant menus.
Jti
As a rule, veal calves are milk-fed
and can grow to up to nine months in
age (the older the calf, the redder the
meat). The milk-fed veal better butch-
ers sell is usually less than three
months old — never having eaten
solid food — when slaughtered.
Because they are so young, their meat
is very tender, with very little fat and
marbling.
Often you'll find recipes calling for
veal scallopine (scallopini or scallops)
or veal cutlets. These cuts are inter-
changeable in most recipes. Veal scal-
lopine and veal cutlets are very similar
in appearance, except that veal cutlets
usually come from leg meat and scal-
lopine from the shoulder.
Those large, thin, flat scallops meat
shops carry are already pounded to
look the way you expect them to. In
reality, the meat pieces are much
smaller and thicker. Pounding makes
the tender cuts cook quicker for bet-
ter flavor and appear larger, so a little
goes a long way.
These recipes are simple and health-
ful because the lean veal is often
paired with vegetables and cooked
with minimal fat and only olive oil.
BRAISED VEAL SHANKS WITH
CHICK PEAS AND SUNDRIED
TOMATOES
1/2 cup flour
4-6 veal shanks (about 2 1/2
pounds)
3 T. vegetable oil
2 T. olive oil
3 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
2 T. minced garlic
1 T. sugar
2 dried thyme, crumbled
1 bottle (750 ml) red
wine
1 can (about 15 oz.) sea-
soned diced tomatoes
with juice
2 T tomato paste
1 T. hot red pepper
sauce, such as Tabasco
kosher salt and pepper
to taste
1 can (about 14 oz.)
chick peas or garbanzo
beans, drained
6 sundried tomatoes, packed in oil,
sliced thin
Place flour in a shallow dish.
Dredge the veal shanks in the flour
and pat to remove excess flour. Set
aside.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot
over medium-high heat. Add the veal
shanks and brown well on all sides.
Remove the browned shanks to
another dish and set aside. Do not
clean the pot.
Combine olive oil, onions, celery,
garlic, sugar and thyme in the same
pot. Cook over medium-high heat
until the onions are very soft and
golden. Raise heat to high, add the
wine, and cook, uncovered, for 20 .
minutes.
Add the tomatoes and tomato paste
to the pot and stir well. Add the veal
shanks and any collected juices back
to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce
heat to simmer, cover the pot with a
tight fitting lid, and cook for 1 hour.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Add
the chick peas and sundried tomatoes,
cover and cook for 1 hour more, or
until the veal is very tender. Serve the
shanks with the sauce spooned over
and whipped potatoes, or any other
starch. Makes 4 servings.
PAN ROASTED, BALSAMIC
GLAZED VEAL CHOPS WITH
WILTED SPINACH
2 T olive oil
4 large loin veal chops (about 3
pounds)
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup chopped onions
2 t. chopped garlic
1 cup beef broth or stock
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup red wine
4 fresh tarragon or rosemary sprigs,
garnish, optional
8 cups fresh baby spinach
Preheat oven to 425F.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet
or Dutch oven over high heat. Season
the chops with salt and pepper.
Carefully add the chops to the skillet
and sear them until the underside is
browned. Turn them over and cook
the other sides until browned.
Remove the chops to a baking dish,
sprinkle with salt and pepper and
place in the oven, uncovered, for 10-
15 minutes, or until the meat temper-
ature reads 135F on an instant-read
thermometer.
Meanwhile, place the skillet again
over high heat. Add the olive oil,
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onions and garlic and cook, stirring
often until the onions are softened,
about 5 minutes. Add the vinegar and
wine and continue cooking until the
liquid reduces by half.
Divide the spinach among 4 dinner-
sized plates. Place the veal chops over
the spinach. Spoon the hot sauce over
the chops and spinach. Garnish the
chop with rosemary sprigs and serve.
Makes 4 servings.
VEAL SCALLOPS WITH
MUSHROOMS AND
ARTICHOKE HEARTS
Mushrooms and artichoke:
2 T olive oil
1 t. minced garlic
12 oz. mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1 can (about 14 oz.) artichoke heart
quarters, drained (not marinated)
1 cup dry white wine
2 T. grainy Dijon mustard
1/4 cup liquid non-dairy creamer
Veal:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 pounds veal scallops, pounded
thin
Heat oil and garlic in a large skillet
over medium-high heat. Add the
mushrooms and cook, stirring occa-
sionally, until the mushrooms give up
their liquid and the liquid evaporates.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add the artichoke hearts and wine
and bring to a boil. Cook for 3 min-
utes. Reduce heat to simmer and stir
in creamer. Keep warm.
Brush a large, non-stick skillet with
olive oil. Season the veal with salt and
pepper and fry the veal on both sides
until browned and just cooked
through (about 6 minutes). As the
veal is cooked, transfer to the pan
with the mushrooms.
When all the veal is cooked, arrange
the veal slices on 6 dinner plates.
Spoon the mushrooms and sauce over
the veal and serve immediately. Makes
6 servings.
VEAL BOLOGNESE
I like my Bolognese sauce slighlty
creamy, so I add the non-dairy cream-
er.
1/4 cup olive oil
2 pounds ground veal
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1 T. minced garlic
1 t. thyme
1 bay leaf