Veal Scallopini

Thin veal cutlets served with tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach in a white wine sauce.

I've never cooked veal scallopini before.  I don't seek out veal to buy, but I always check the discount bin at our grocery store (so does my husband).  Any food or meat that is close to it's expiration date or just isn't popular is usually 30-50% off.  It's a great way to eat good cuts of meat for pretty inexpensively you just have to cook it or freeze it that day.  Shopping this way has definitely broadened my cooking.  There are lots of meats and food I would normally never buy, because I'm not familiar with it or it's just too expensive, that come home when 50% off.  My husband has great faith in me, I still pass by some that I don't know how to cook, but he always says "you'll figure out something".  I think he was actually the one who brought the veal scallopini home.

As with anything I'm unfamiliar with I searched on line for "how to cook veal scallopini".  The internet is so great I almost never pick up a cookbook any more and I'm able to find so many recipes from so many cuisines with just the push of a button.  So I sifted through a few recipes until I found something that used ingredients I had or could easily find and seemed relatively simple.  I settled on Adam Siegel's Veal Scallopini.

Veal Scallopini

Slightly modified from Adam Siegel's Veal Scallopini

Ingredients:

4 veal cutlets also called scallopini
salt and pepper to taste
flour
olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 pound spinach
1/2 cup sliced caremini mushrooms
1/2 cup white wine
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup halved grape tomatoes

Pound the veal cutlets, with the smooth side of a meat mallet (or bottom of a heavy fry pan) until about 1/8 of an inch thick.

Make sure you have all of the ingredients out and ready (this cooks quick).

Season both sides of the veal and dredge in flour (shake off excess).  Heat a large skillet over medium high heat (I used cast iron).  Pour in about 1 Tbsp oil and cook the veal, one at a time, about 2 minutes per side, until cooked through and browned (it's thin so it doesn't take long, add more oil as needed).  Remove the veal from the pan and set aside on a plate, cover or put in a warm oven to keep warm.  Pour out oil.

In the same pan, over medium high heat, melt a bit (about 1/2 Tbsp) of the butter.  Toss in the spinach and cook just until wilted (I cooked mine too long, it was still good just didn't look as pretty) then remove from pan and place on serving tray or plates and keep warm.

Again place the same pan back over medium high heat.  Melt 1/2 Tbsp butter and saute the mushrooms in it until they are softened.  Pour in the wine and reduce by half.

Add the lemon juice and the chicken broth and again reduce by half.  Add the tomatoes and the last of the butter (about 1 Tbsp).  Remove from the heat when the butter is thoroughly incorporated.

You can place the veal back in the sauce to reheat it if necessary.  Place 2 cutlets on top of the spinach and pour the sauce over the top.  Serve immediately.

Makes 2 servings.

Enjoy.

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Easy Shepherd's Pie

A casserole made with leeks, celery, peas, veal and cream of mushroom soup and topped with mashed potatoes.

I don't know much about shepherd's pie, but I know it is topped with mashed potatoes.  So any time I top a casserole (or hot dish) with mashed potatoes I call it shepherd's pie.  I think traditionally it's supposed to have lamb in it but that is not what I had.  I had left over veal roast that I used in this recipe and it was great.  A casserole is not a casserole, to me, with out cream of mushroom soup.  It's quick and easy and always tastes good.  Any vegetable would work in this shepherd's pie, you could easily use a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, but I had celery and peas.  I used leeks because they looked good in the store and I've always wanted to try them (this was my first time) but onions could be substituted.  That is one great thing about casseroles, you can use anything you want in them, they are quick, and they taste great.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp butter
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 cup celery, chopped
2 leeks, white parts only (chopped)
1 cup frozen peas
2 cups veal, already cooked and chopped (substitute any kind of meat)
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
3 cups mashed potatoes

Chop the leeks, white part only and let soak in water to remove any sediment, then drain. 

Heat a large saute pan on medium low heat and melt about 1 Tbsp butter.  Cook the garlic in the butter for about 1 minute until soft and fragrant then add the leeks and celery.  Let sweat until leeks are translucent and celery softens (about 10-20 minutes).  Salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile prepare mashed potatoes how ever you like them.

When the leeks and celery are soft add the peas until they thaw and then add the veal mixing thoroughly.  Remove the veggies and veal into a large bowl and mix in the cream of mushroom soup (do not dilute).

Spread mixture into a buttered 8x8 inch baking dish and top with the mashed potatoes.  Bake in 350F oven for 30 minutes and then broil for a few minutes to get the top brown and crispy.  Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.  Serves 4-6.  Enjoy.

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Veal Roast

Slow cooked veal chuck roast with sweet onions and a mushroom gravy.

This is my very first veal roast.  Some friends were moving and cleaning out their freezer and I got a veal roast.  I can not claim credit for this dinner because my husband is the one who prepared it while I was away for the day.  He slow cooked it with beef broth, wine and sweet onions in the crock pot for 5 hours.  For our first veal roast it turned out great.  It was tender, flavorful, and amazing.  I would definitely make this again (if veal wasn't so expensive) it would make a great dinner for a special occasion.  With 5 pounds of roast we had plenty to eat for a few days and we even froze half.

Ingredients:

5 lb veal shoulder roast (boneless and tied)
Salt and Pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp butter
1 Maui onion (sweet onion), large diced
1 cup beef broth
1 tsp thyme
1 pinch rosemary
5 oz white wine
1 cup dried mushroom slices, reconstituted
1/2 cup flour
2 Tbsp butter

Rub the veal roast generously with salt and pepper.  Sear on all sides in 2 Tbsp butter then place the roast in Crockpot/slowcooker.

Brown onions then add to crockpot.  Also add beef broth, thyme, rosemary, and white wine.  Cover and cook on low for about 5 hours.

Remove roast from cooking liquid, place in a pan and cover with foil to rest.  To the cooking liquid (in the crock pot) add the reconstituted mushrooms (we used shitake, but any would be good also fresh mushrooms would work too, just saute them first) and cook on high for 30 minutes.

In a skillet, melt 2 Tbsp butter and add the flour, stirring for a minute or to to make a roux.  Add the mushrooms and broth to the roux and simmer until gravey is desired thickness.

Serve veal sliced with gravy drizzled on top.  We served the veal with mashed potatoes and peas.  Another meal with the veal was an open faced sandwich.  Enjoy.

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