Meat Is Murder...

... tasty, tasty murder.

I have a confession to make, my gentle readers. I am an obedient little Facebooker, dutifully updating my status in the fevered hopes that someone out there actually gives a damn. Take last Friday for instance: "5:01 Express to Philly and veal piccata." My boy Joe-D "liked" my status, except for the veal part. He's a vegetarian, you see  ̶  not because he loves animals, he'll point out, but because he hates plants. Well, I love plants and animals equally, and am convinced that, in the wild, something on all fours would eat me unhesitantly if I didn't kill it and cook it up first. So, I have no particular empathy for hair-on-fire PETA members or their ilk. However, after a particularly affecting episode of The Fabulous Beekman Boys, I am more cognizant of where I buy my meat and how it's prepared. No more dollar menu meals for me, thank you very much.

Veal Piccata - as prepared by the Lone Ranger

6 veal cutlets ¾ cup seasoned bread crumbs 6 Tbsp unsalted butter 2 Tbsp olive oil 12 button mushroom caps, sliced 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped 1 whole lemon, juiced ½ cup dry white wine ¾ cup chicken stock 2 Tbsp capers ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted

While a tablespoon each of butter and olive oil heat up in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, pound cutlets to about ⅛" thickness with a mallet, and dredge in bread crumbs, shaking off the excess.

Cook veal in batches for one minute or so on each side, just until lightly browned. (Over-cooking will result in tough cutlets.) Remove to a platter. Add more butter and oil as needed for subsequent batches.

Once all the cutlets are browned, build your sauce. Start by pouring off any excess fat from the sauté pan, wiping out the pan with paper towels. With a wooden spoon, deglaze the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan with the white wine and lemon juice. Whisk in the chicken stock and a pat of butter and bring to a boil. Add the capers and a splash of the brining liquid in the caper jar. A little more butter won't hurt the sauce, but your arteries may cry out in protest. Don't listen. Continue to whisk the sauce to reduce and thicken. Taste for seasoning.

Return the cutlets and add the mushrooms to the pan. Toss in the chopped parsley. Heat just to warm through, then serve over your favorite starch, in our case thin spaghetti noodles spiked with garlic-infused butter and parmesan cheese. Garnish with a bit more parsley and the toasted pine nuts.

This dish is so quick and easy, about 20 minutes from stovetop to table, and almost indescribably delicious - another meal that's all about the sauce. You'll be able to pick up very pleasing, complex flavors with each bite. The mushrooms and pine nuts ground the dish with earthy, meaty bass notes. All that sinful butter imparts a not-so-subtle richness, like heavy cream in coffee. The lemon juice and capers hit all the high notes with a bright, biting clarity.

I love this dish. If I were ever to open a bistro of my own, this would be the Thursday night special. Why Thursday, you ask? Because Wednesday is fried chicken night, and Friday is for catfish baked in parchment paper, silly!

Thanks for taking the time - Blog O. Food

Pax Romana

From where do ideas spring? Are they triggered by external forces, or do they spring fully formed from the psyche? What do I know, I'm a food blogger, not a philosopher. In any event, here's how last night's menu came to be. I was at the Arthur Avenue Retail Market looking at produce. The grocer proffered a handful of yellow cherries. I popped a couple in my mouth and couldn't believe how sweet they were. I had to have a pound. While he weighed them out for me, I spied some beautifully ripe figs tucked under some herbs, and the cogs started turning...

Saltimbocca alla Romana

8 2oz veal cutlets 8oz prosciutto, thinly sliced fresh sage leaves ½ cup flour 4 Tbsp olive oil 8 Tbsp unsalted butter ¼ cup marsala wine 1 cup chicken stock Salt & pepper

Use a mallet or rolling pin to pound cutlets to ⅛" thick. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Press 2 or 3 slices of prosciutto on top of each cutlet. Stitch 2 sage leaves on top of the prosciutto and through the veal. Dredge cutlets in flour, shaking off excess, and set aside.

Heat 2 Tbsp of oil and 2 Tbsp of butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Cook veal in batches until cutlets are lightly browned and the prosciutto side is crisp, about 1 minute per side. Move meat to a platter lined with paper towels. Repeat procedure with remaining cutlets. Discard toothpicks after cooking.

Pour off the cooking fat and return pan to high heat. Deglaze with marsala, scraping up browned bits. Reduce wine by half. Add chicken stock and reduce again. Stir in remaining 4 Tbsp of butter and reduce heat to medium. Return cutlets to the pan and cook until sauce thickens, turning veal occasionally.

What of the figs you ask? I made a reduced syrup of 1 part Balsamic vinegar and 2 parts honey that I drizzled over quartered figs for a simple, elegant dessert. Toasted, shaved almonds sprinkled about added a nice crunch.

A 2007 Livio Felluga Pinot Grigio made for a fine addition to the meal. Fruit forward, apricot notes in the bouquet and on the palate. Great balance and a beautiful finish with more fruit and spice. Mount Carmel Wines sells it for $24. A worthy companion with veal, poultry and saltier seafood dishes. Veal is such a light, airy meat. It's more a blank canvas for inspired sauces and simple techniques. Whichever Roman chef came up with saltimbocca needs an award named in his honor. One that rewards excellence in simplicity and flavors. I paired my saltimbocca with another Italian favorite, broccoli rabe. You've seen it here before. It's bitter and salty and garlicy and I just love it. All this because I chanced upon some figs at the market. I think it best not to analyze these things too thoroughly, but I suspect figs reminded me of prosciutto and melon, and prosciutto lead logically to veal. There, I just showed you the man behind the curtain.

Thanks for taking the time - Blog O. Food

Oh No! Meat Loaf Again!

Mention meat loaf to anyone born after 1984 and chances are they'll quote "Wedding Crasher" lines from a certain no-talent actor who would rather chew up scenery than work on his craft. But all the kids who weren't cool in high school hearken back to the banquet scene from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" where Eddie (the singer Meatloaf) was quite literally on the menu. Right on cue, cries of "Meat loaf again?" would bounce of the walls of the theater. It was a great way to spend a Friday night. Meatloaf, the artist, cultivated a respected if quirky body of work, most of it having nothing to do with cannibalism; like this blog entry! This is a pork and veal loaf adapted from a NY Times recipe.

Mushroom and Meat Loaf

½ lb mushrooms 1 Tbsp butter ½ cup yellow onion, finely chopped 1 lb ground pork 1 lb ground veal ⅛ tsp nutmeg ½ cup oats ⅛ tsp red pepper flake 1 large egg, lightly beaten ¼ cup heavy cream 2 Tbsp dill ½ cup chopped tomatoes Salt & pepper

Soften onions in butter over medium heat is a sauté pan. Slice mushrooms while onions sweat. Add mushrooms to the pan and cook until their liquid evaporates. Put ground meat and the mushroom & onion mixture in a large mixing bowl. Add the nutmeg, oats, pepper flakes, beaten egg, heavy cream, dill and freshly ground black pepper. Blend well with hands. Pack the mixture into a loaf pan and smooth down the top. Spread chopped tomatoes on top. Place loaf pan in a large baking dish and fill the dish half way up the sides with boiling water. Place in a 400° pre-heated oven. Bake for 60-90 minutes, or until a meat thermometer stuck into the center of the loaf registers 160 degrees.

I thought mashed potatoes seemed passé, so went with glazed carrots instead. While I washed and peeled a bunch of carrots, I reduced a glaze of a couple tablespoons each of butter, brown sugar and a little water. The carrots and glaze went into the oven the last 20 minutes of cooking for the meat loaf. I tossed them once or twice to keep coated and moist.

The ubiquitous meat loaf is frequently taken for granted. But it's reliable, easy stand-bys like this that round out a weekly menu. There is almost nothing you can do to screw up a meat loaf. Just like a frittata, almost anything goes. So keep meat loaf in heavy rotation, whatever your cultural signposts.

Thanks for taking the time - Blog O. Food