Veal Piccata (or Chicken if you prefer...)

As a member of the Barefoot Bloggers, from time to time I find myself making things that would not normally have occurred to me to cook. This is a good thing - both because I am discovering new recipes, and also because I am prompted to rethink old ones. It has also led me to confidently rely on the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten and her recipes for a dependable, yummy, relatively easy meal.

Last week our challenge was a side of onions, which left me wondering what I would serve with them. And rather than rethink the wheel, I decided to look back to Ina's own suggestion. Her recipes tend to be presented on TV and in her books, as part of a whole meal. She gives a little back story of who she is cooking for and why, and then the recipes. Our baked onions were part of a dinner for her husband Jeffrey who had been away all week for work, called "It's Friday Night Again". Comfort food at its finest in other words. Ina's suggested main was chicken piccata, but as we had had chicken already several times last week, I decided veal piccata would be a great match for us. Served with tomato and avocado drizzled in a little extra virgin olive oil and balsamic, this was good.

Chicken Piccata (or Veal)

adapted from "Barefoot Contessa at Home" by Ina Garten. Serves 2-4 depending on how much chicken / veal you cook. The sauce is ample for four.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used four veal escalopes but kept other quantities the same)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 extra-large egg
1/2 tablespoon water
3/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
Good olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons), lemon halves reserved
1/2 cup dry white wine
Sliced lemon, for serving
Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap and pound out to 1/4-inch thick (my veal was already done). Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

Mix the flour, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp of pepper in a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the egg and 1/2 tbl of water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg and bread crumb mixtures.
Heat 1 tbl of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium to medium-low heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Place them on the sheet pan and allow them to bake for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

For the sauce, wipe out the saute pan with a dry paper towel. Over medium heat, melt 1 tbl of the butter and then add the lemon juice, wine, the reserved lemon halves, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Boil over high heat until reduced in half, about 2 minutes. Off the heat, add the remaining 2 tbl of butter and swirl to combine. Discard the lemon halves and serve 1 chicken breast on each plate. Spoon on the sauce and serve with a slice of lemon and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.

Veal Stew - Freezer Friendly Meal For Busy Weeks Ahead

Here is a tip from someone who knows - the next few weeks will be crazy. Regardless of where you are in the world, the months of November and December always feel like life has its foot jammed on the accelerator. In this neck of the woods we have the school year ending in mid-December, Christmas concerts, carol services, singing recitals, school orientations and a million other things, on top of Xmas shopping, and holiday planning. Exhausting. So now is the time to make a couple of meals to throw in the freezer, because you can bet there will be a night coming soon when all you want to do is warm up something you have already cooked.

In my opinion, the best things to freeze are casseroles and stews. This stew is light enough to eat here in the warm late Spring, and is very tasty (but would also work just as well for the chillier Northern Hemisphere). Depending on your appetites and what other side dishes you serve, this recipe will feed about 8 people (so for our family that is 2 meals taken care of). The recipe is from the delightful Silver Palate cookbook - definietly a cookbook worth having on your shelf.

Pearly Veal and Onion Stew

adapted from The Silver Palate

1/4 cup olive oil

1.5 kg veal stew meat, chopped into 3cm cubes

4 tbls plain flour

10 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

3 cups chicken stock

1 1/2 cups white wine

1 tbl fresh rosemary

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

3/4 kg white pearl onions (If you can find them, otherwise regular brown onions)

1 cup frozen peas

Heat oil in a large stew pot, and then add the veal a few pieces at a time to brown. As each batch browns, remove from the pot and transfer to a bowl. Add the next few pieces of veal. When all the pieces are browned, sprinkle the veal in the bowl with the flour and toss to coat.

Add more oil to the pot if necessary, then cook garlic over low heat until light golden in colour. Preheat oven to 160C. Return veal to the pot, adding the stock, wine, haerbs, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil on the stove then cover and put in the oven for 1 hour, stirring occassionally.

Meanwhile cut a small cross in the root end of the pearl onions. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the onions and cook until tender (15 mins or so). Drain them and refresh under cold water. When they are cool enough to handle, peel and trim them.

Uncover casserole and taste the stew; adjust seasoning if necessary. Stir in the onions and return to the oven for another 20 mins, uncovering the stew for the last ten minutes of cooking time. Stir in the peas and serve.

Veal Osso Buco - Good and Slow

Osso buco is one of those meals that is really enjoying a surge of popularity. Through the winter months, I have been hard-pressed to find an upscale cafe or restaurant not offering this delicious dish as a special. It is warm and rich and tender. It is also surprisingly easy to make as long as you are not in a rush. As i have been thinking about it this morning, I have decided that it is the absolute diametric opposite of a quarter pounder, if foods have opposites. If you are thinking about making this, my best suggestion is do it on the weekend or on a day when you have a few chores around the house so you can just let it slowly simmer away. You will be rewarded with a sensational dinner. It also thanks you for letting it sit for a day or two in the fridge, with even richer more developed flavours.

The literal translation of "osso buco" means bone with a hole in it (thanks Wiki), and it is usually made with veal shanks, that have been cut horizontally across the bone. Traditionally it is served with a gremolata on top, but instead, my recipe works some orange zest into the sauce, so you get some lovely citrus background flavours. The long slow cooking intensifies all the tastes resulting in a sauce that is so good, we freeze the leftovers to use on other dishes or pasta. If you are that way inclined, the marrow from the bones is great as well. I would love to give credit for the source of this recipe, but I cut it out of a magazine years ago (decades even?) and stuck it into one of my collection of recipe scrapbooks, without thinking about including any attribution. Apologies and kudos to whoever first made this osso buco.

Osso Buco

1.5 kg veal shanks, cut horizontally into 5cm pieces

Plain flour seasoned with salt and pepper

2 tbls olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

8 cloves garlic, chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

500ml red wine

1 litre chicken stock

6 egg tomatoes, chopped

3 bay leaves

1 tsp black peppercorns

200 ml veal glace or veal stock (optional as this is sometimes hard to get and / or expensive, but it really is worth it in the end).

zested rind of 1 orange

Toss osso buco in flour. Heat oil in a large saucepan, then brown the osso buco in batches until it is nice and golden on both sides. Remove from pot. Add onion, garlic and carrot to the pot and cook over medium heat for 5-8 mins until golden (add more oil if you need to). Add red wine, bring to the boil then stir to release any yummy caramelized pieces from the bottom of the pan (lots and lots of flavour in those pieces!). Return osso buco to the pan with remaining ingredients and bring to the boil. Cover and cook in the oven at 180C for 2 1/2 hours, or until meat is very tender and starting to fall off the bone.

Very carefully lift the osso buco out of the pot (if you are not careful the meat will come off the bone - not a disaster if it happens but it looks prettier if it is still on the bone - not sure "prettier" is the right word but you know what I mean!). Discard the bay leaves then process the sauce in a blender until smooth, and then push it through a strainer to make it even smoother (skip this if you can't be bothered - your sauce will be less silky but will taste just as good.) If your sauce is too runny, put it back in the pot and reduce it until you are happy with the consistency. Otherwise, return sauce and osso buco to the pot and warm through. Serve with pasta, potatoes, rice or bread - anything to mop up the sauce!