Veal with Fontina Cream Sauce

For our Valentine's Day dinner last night, I decided to keep things simple but flavorful. I was pressed for time because of many late afternoon errands, but knew I wanted to do something special. I browsed through a cookbook I own and have not yet cooked from, but which looks really good: Il Viaggio di Vetri. With limited time on my hands I was too overwhelmed to follow a new recipe step by step, since it is less time-consuming for me to just throw something together. I found a really yummy-sounding recipe, took the basic idea of the ingredients list, and put my own personal twist on it. This is what I came up with:

And here is what I did to make it...

First disclaimer, I measured nothing...

First, put a handful of dried porcini mushrooms to soak in hot water.

Next, pour some cream into a saucepan over low heat, add some thin slices of fontina cheese, and add some fresh rosemary. I cleared an entire sprig. Season with ground sea salt freshly ground white pepper. Let the sauce simmer at a very low heat all the while that you are preparing the rest of the ingredients so that the rosemary flavor will become deeply infused.

After at least 20 minutes of soaking, finely chop the porcini mushrooms, then saute them in butter. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Next, coat thick cubes of veal cutlet in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Heat some vegetable oil over medium heat in a skillet, and cook the veal for about 5 minutes on each side more or less depending on thickness.

Meanwhile wash and trim some broccolini, and barely saute it in some olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon a layer of sauce onto each serving plate. Top with a serving of veal. Sprinkle with porcini mushrooms, then drizzle some more sauce over the top. Garnish with freshly chopped Italian parsley. Add some broccolini on the side.

Enjoy!

Veal Scallopini with Tomato, Oregano, and Capers

This is a very tasty recipe that I learned from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Having previously eaten veal that was dry and tough in restaurants on more than one occasion, I was pleased to find that I could make quite appealing veal very easily at home. I have been making this recipe for so long now, and so many times that I haven't looked inside the cookbook for years. Hence I am sure I have altered it somewhat to fit my own personal cooking needs and conveniences.

It is one of my old standbys, a recipe that I make when I don't know what else to make and am too pressed for time to look for new recipes.

It doesn't take too long and is very easy.

To serve approx. 4 people, or 2 adults and 3 little ones as in our household, the ingredients are:

1 lb thinly pounded veal slices for scallopini

about 1/2 c. flour

salt and pepper

vegetable oil, enough to coat your frying pan

1/2 c. white wine

1 large can of imported Italian plum tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped

1 T. oregano

1 T. capers, or a lot more if your children adore capers like ours do...

1 T. butter

First, season the veal with salt and pepper.

Then, dredge each slice with a thin coating of flour.

Pour a small amount of vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat, just enough to coat the bottom.

Fry the veal slices until browned, turning once to brown both sides, about 4 minutes per side.

They will look something like this:

If you need to brown multiple batches of veal, deglaze the pan with the wine between batches in order to prevent burning leftover particles from the previous batch. Set aside the cooked veal and glazing liquid in a bowl.

Once all the veal is cooked, deglaze the pan once more. Then add the chopped tomatoes. Pour any liquid from the reserved veal into the pan as well, and cook this sauce for about 30 minutes.

Toward the end of the cooking time, add the oregano and the butter. This time I forgot the butter, and didn't even notice until I typed this out. Thus, if you're watching your fat intake, you too can "forget" the butter with no ill consequences.

When it is done cooking, add the capers.

Briefly reheat the veal slices in the sauce.

Serve the veal topped with the sauce.

Enjoy with a green vegetable or salad!

Swedish Meatballs

Traditional Swedish meatballs, or köttbullar, are a tasty blend of meat, onions, and breadcrumbs, and are normally served with Lingonberry preserves, potatoes and pickled cucumbers. This makes a delicious meal, especially on a cold winter night. It also has the advantage that it can be made ahead of time, making it a perfect dish for a dinner party or for a busy family!

The recipe I use for Swedish meatballs is taken from the Aquavit cookbook by Marcus Samuelsson.

At least several hours and up to five days before serving, prepare the quick pickled cucumbers in the following manner:

Slice an unpeeled cucumber as thinly as humanly possible, preferably with a mandoline as seen below. Watch those fingers :)

Assemble your other ingredients: kosher salt, 1 1/2 cups water, 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1 c sugar, 1 bay leaf and 2 allspice berries.

Toss the cucumber slices with 1 tablespoon of kosher salt and let them sit in a colander for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the water, vinegar, sugar, bay leaf and allspice in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Then let it cool. At the end of the 30 minutes, rinse the salt off of the cucumbers and squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Combine the cucumbers with the brining solution in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 3-6 hours before serving.

Now, assemble your ingredients for the meatballs. You will need:

1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium red onion, finely chopped

1/2 lb. ground chuck or sirloin

1/2 lb. ground veal

1/2 lb. ground pork

2 tablespoons honey

1 large egg

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

First, combine the cream with the breadcrumbs in a small bowl

Next, heat a skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil, and saute the red onions for 5 minutes.

Now combine the ground beef, veal, pork, onion, honey and egg, mixing well with your hands. Season with salt and pepper. Add the bread crumb/cream mixture and mix well. With wet hands, shape the mixture into about 24 golf-ball sized meatballs.

Melt the butter in a pan over medium-high heat.

Add the meatballs in batches if necessary, and fry them for about 7 minutes, turning frequently, until browned on all sides and cooked through.

Transfer the meatballs to a plate and discard all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan.

To make the sauce you will need:

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup lingonberry preserves

2 tablespoons juice from the quick pickled cucumbers

kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Return the pan to the heat, adding the stock, cream, preserves and pickle juice. Bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the meatballs to the sauce, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens slightly and the meatballs are heated through.

Serve the meatballs hot accompanied with mashed potatoes, lingonberry preserves and pickled cucumbers.