Break It Down - Veal Style

One morning, we came into class to a plate of this:

Turns out, the pastry class that meets in the afternoons left us a plate of desserts! The pyramid in the front is a passion fruit gelatin-glazed cream something or other, there were a few cream puffs, and a few coconut balls with chocolate cake and cream filling. They were so delicious, and of course, I tried them all!

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 Chef Avram told us this story before we started butchering veal:

He was a young buck, in his early twenties, and had a job working at a restaurant with an Austrian head chef. Avram's job one day was to make souffleed potatoes, a process during which slices of potato are fried once at a low temperature (325) and then again at a higher temperature (375), thus causing the outer layer to form a waterproof skin and the moisture inside the slice to cause it to puff. These puffs will only hold their shape for about 6 minutes so they must be served immediately.

So his job was to make these puffed potatoes and get them out to the tables. He made one batch, and then went to ask the head chef where to put them. Though in a meeting, the chef turned to him and said, "On the wheel!"

Ok, so Avram went around the kitchen looking for a wheel of some kind. It wasn't the rotating wheel the orders were put up on, nor was it someplace near the expediter (the person who checks the plates before they are sent out with servers.) There was nothing that looked like a wheel...

Seeing his first batch of potatoes deflating, he went ahead and juggled another batch of potatoes, and when finished, asked the chef again where to put them. The chef was still in his meeting, so Avram didn't want to bother him a second time, but he couldn't find the wheel.

He asked again timidly where to find this wheel. The chef came out into the kitchen, pointed to the plates of veal that were waiting for a garnish, and said, "On the weal! On the weal!" With his accent, the way he said veal sounded like wheel. Oops! The customers ended up with fresh souffleed potatoes and a delicious piece of veal...

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 We got into our butchering after lecture, and this time we learned about how to break down a rack of veal.
There are disagreements about the treatment of veal in America and around the world. Veal comes from baby cows slaughtered when they are between 4 and 8 months old. There are tales of these animals being raised in very poor conditions so that they can't move and are never exposed to sunlight. This brings up a hug ethical issue that farms are trying to improve: why should an animal suffer so much for us to have a good piece of meat. The revolution of free-range, cage-free, etc. is catching on to the social generation who is pushing for a more ethical treatment of all animals that will eventually be prepared as food.

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 Removing the deckel and top layer of subcutaneous fat, we prepared the rack for roasting. Below, you can see the smooth part of the bone that sits in the shoulder socket. This part of the animal is constantly lubricated for movement, so the white part is smooth and wet, almost slimy.

 Here, we cut slices for pounding thin and frying.

 Because we pounded the meat so thin, it becomes more tender and cooks in a fraction of the time a thicker cut of meat would need. One of the recipes we made today with the veal was veal marsala with "buttered" noodles and glazed carrots:

 This is chef's plate of a veal chop that's been breaded, fried, and baked:

 The next veal day, I worked with a partner to make a Veal Navarin, another combination-cooked dish with mushrooms, onions, and carrots (it's like a stew).

These are pearl onions:

 To peel these tiny onions, we were told to place them in boiling salted water for a few seconds, shock in cold water, and then rub the skins off.

 Below, a broccoli. :-)

 Then I made a rice pilaf (all by myself!) and fluffed it with a fork.

 For the veal navarin, I wanted to serve the dish with pieces of leek as a garnish, so I blanched and shocked these slices of the inner part of the leek.

 While our Navarin was in the oven, I prepared a Frenched veal chop for roasting. No, Frenching does not mean using tongue. It refers to the technique where you scrape the bones of a cut of meat to make the dish look cleaner and more presentable. You can see below that the bones of the chops have been Frenched.

 The finished product:

My plated veal Navarin with a garnish of leeks and rice pilaf.

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Veal Navarin (Hearty Veal Stew)

3 TB olive oil

3 lb veal shoulder (or veal stew meat)

sugar, to taste

salt and pepper, to taste

3 TB flour

1 qt chicken stock

4 oz. white wine

(chablis preferred)

8 oz crushed tomatoes, no juice

1 carrot stick

1 leek stick

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1.5 lb peeled white potatoes

medium dice

1 lb carrots

medium dice

1 lb white turnips, peeled (OPTIONAL)

medium dice

12 pearl onions (or whatever you have)

In an oven-safe pot, heat olive oil. Once hot, brown the meat on each side, sprinkling with sugar, salt, and pepper to taste.

Add the flour and cook for 3-4 minutes.*

Add stock and wine, crushed tomatoes, carrot/leek/thyme/bay leaf.

Cover the pot and cook for 1  1/2 hours. 

After 90 minutes, remove the meat, strain the sauce, and skim excess fat. It is possible that at this step, there may not be a lot of sauce left (most water evaporated and you are left with a thick sauce. In this case, you can add more stock to thin it out.)

Once the mixture is skimmed, return the meat to the pot, add the potatoes, carrots, turnip and onions.

Cover and cook for an additional 25 minutes.

HINT: This stew can be made in a skillet up to step * and then all other ingredients can be placed in a slow cooker to cook for 2-3 hours. Just be aware that you may have to skim the stew before you serve.

Enjoy!