Whole Roasted Breast Of Veal Recipes

WHOLE ROASTED BREAST OF VEAL

Steps:

• Vaguely trim breast - just the fat globs on the rib cage and any especially skanky skin, if it even exists. If the blue U.S.D.A. ink stamp on the flesh offends you, remove it.
• Place breast in a deep roasting pan large enough to accommodate it, and season meat thoroughly and assertively with salt, all over, turning the breast ribs-side up as well, seasoning with salt all over. Do the same thing, less assertively by half, with ground black pepper. Set breast back in pan ribs-side down, and season the flesh side extremely conservatively with both ground juniper and ground allspice. A light hand here, please. Strip a few pinches of fresh thyme leaves from their stems, and scatter over the veal. Drizzle generously with the oil, allowing some to pool in roasting pan.
• Let the veal sit at room temperature to shake the chill from the refrigerator while you prepare the potatoes.
• Peel and cut into wedges 4 Yukon Gold potatoes, and scatter around in pan. Peel and halve the onion, and slice into 1/3-inch-thick half-moons. Scatter onion around in pan on top of potatoes. Keep potato and onion under the meat, not on top of it, so that breast can fully brown and get a crisp skin.
• Fill roasting pan 2 inches deep with water and white wine, in equal parts. Set in 275-degree oven, and let roast for up to 12 hours, depending on weight. Remove when it is deeply golden brown and soft and tender. You don't want it falling off the bone, but you should be able to see how loose and relaxed it has become in the layers. You may need to tent the pan with foil for the first or the last 45 minutes of roasting to give it a little braise time for the deepest interior, recalcitrant parts. Conversely, you may want to turn up the oven and give it a 30-minute finish in a hot oven to get better color.
• Pick out vertebrae. Slice off ribs. Then portion as you wish, using a sharp knife big enough for the job. Include the potatoes and onions and the liquid from the pan when you serve.

ROAST VEAL BREAST WITH PEPPERS AND ONIONS

Steps:

• Trim any excess fat and gristle from the veal. Heat a large casserole on the stove top and add the olive oil. Season the veal well with salt and pepper and add to the hot casserole. Brown well on both sides turning only when fully caramelized. Remove the veal and set aside. Add the cipollini to the pot and brown well before adding the peppers. When the vegetables are well browned, put the veal back into the pot, add the wine. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover with a tight fitting lid. Allow to cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, checking occasionally that the pot has not cooked dry. If it has, add some water to keep the pot moist throughout the cooking process. When cooked slice and serve with vegetables.;

STUFFED AND ROASTED BONE-IN VEAL BREAST

Steps:

• Cut a pocket in veal breast, or ask your butcher to do it for you. Season pocket with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Set aside veal to reach room temperature.
• In a skillet melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion and celery and saute until onion is tender and golden. In a bowl combine bread and eggs; add onion mixture, parsley and 1 cup of the chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper; mix well. Stuffing should be fairly wet; add a little more chicken stock if needed.
• Using a long spoon, reach deep inside veal pocket to distribute stuffing evenly. Use a trussing needle and string to sew up pocket. Season roast on all sides with salt and pepper and liberally sprinkle top with paprika. Place in roasting pan, top side up, and roast 3 1/2 hours in all. Baste top with 1/2 cup chicken stock every 45 minutes.
• Remove roast to a carving board and let sit, loosely covered, 15 minutes while you prepare sauce. Set roasting pan over medium-high heat and add remaining 3 cups chicken stock. Deglaze pan, scraping up browned bits and incorporating them into stock. Boil until stock reduces to 1 1/2 cups. If desired, thicken sauce with arrowroot or butter, or leave as is. Cut center portion of veal breast along chine bone separations into 6 servings. Spoon gravy over each portion.

ROAST STUFFED BREAST OF VEAL

Steps:

• Put the bread cubes in a small bowl and pour the milk over them; toss together, and let the bread soak up the milk, tossing the cubes every few minutes so they moisten evenly.
• Meanwhile, put the mortadella, onion, carrot, and celery pieces in the food processor, fitted with the steel blade, and chop them together into fine bits, processing continuously for about 1/2 minute; scrape down the sides of the bowl, and process briefly until everything is a pastelike mix.
• Pour the olive oil into a 10- or 12-inch skillet, and set over medium-high heat; scrape in the chopped stuffing and spread it in the pan. As it starts to sizzle, lower the heat considerably, stir, and sauté gently for 3 or 4 minutes to bring out the flavors-don't let the stuffing get crusty or colored.
• Squeeze the bread cubes firmly by handfuls to get out excess milk, and scatter them over the stuffing. Still cooking over low heat, break up the bread clumps with a spoon or spatula, and stir to incorporate completely. Mix in the chopped prunes, and cook them with the stuffing for a minute or so. Take the pan off the heat and scrape the stuffing into a bowl.
• Let the stuffing cool, then stir in the pine nuts, grated cheese, parsley, salt, pepper, and the beaten egg, mixing thoroughly.
• At this time, set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 400°.
• As I explain in the box (page 359), and as you can see in the photos, your stuffing method will vary with the size and cut of veal breast (and your own preferences). Follow these general steps to prepare the breast: Rinse and dry it thoroughly. Check the breast for pockets of fat and remove. There is often a clump of fat on the bony side, where you will see a flap of meat partially covering the ribs. Lift this flap, and cut away the fat hidden inside. Do not remove the skin on the bottom-either from the ribs or the meat flap-as it helps hold the breast together.
• This flap of meat, under the ribs, is the one I use to wrap around the stuffed breast in the photos. Cut it off, shave off the silver skin from both sides, then pound it with a meat hammer or tenderizer until it is paper-thin, like carpaccio. And there's your wrapper!
• To stuff: Follow the method shown in the photos, first cutting a pocket in the meaty layers on top of the ribs, then filling it with your stuffing. Enclose the breast and exposed stuffing with the pounded veal flap (or use bacon strips or prosciutto slices), and tie securely with kitchen twine.
• If you have a whole veal-breast tip cut, you need only slice open the pocket on the wide side down to the tip and push the stuffing in toward the closed tip. Then tie the roast closed.
• Put the tied breast in the roasting pan and sprinkle the salt all over, patting the crystals into the meat. Pour on the olive oil and rub it all over. Set the breast, rib side down, in the center of the pan.
• Put all the chopped vegetables, the prunes, and the seasonings (except the salt) in a big bowl, and toss with the 3 tablespoons of olive oil. If your broth is unsalted, add 1 teaspoon salt to the vegetables-use less salt or no salt if your broth is salted already. Scatter the vegetables and seasonings around the veal in the pan. Pour in the white wine and 2 cups or more broth or water, so the cooking liquid is about 1/2 inch deep in the pan.
• Cover the pan with one or more long sheets of aluminum foil, arching the foil if necessary to keep it from touching the meat and vegetables. Crimp the foil around the rim of the pan, and press it tightly against the sides all around, sealing the veal and vegetables in a tent.
• Set the pan in the oven and roast for an hour, then bring the roasting pan up front and carefully remove the foil. The veal should be lightly browned and the juices bubbling. Baste with the juices, turn the vegetables over, and push the pan back into the oven.
• Roast for another hour or so, uncovered, basting every 20 minutes and rotating the pan back to front for even cooking. The top of the veal breast should be brown and crusty, the vegetables lightly browned as well, and the liquid considerably reduced. Remove from the oven.
• Lift out the veal breast with a large spatula, or by holding it with towels, and rest it on a platter while you start the sauce.
• With a potato masher, crush the cooked vegetables in the juices, breaking them up into little bits. Set the sieve over the saucepan, and pour everything from the pan through it, pressing the solids against the sieve with a big spoon to release their liquid, then discard the remains. Let the juices rest, and when the fat rises to the top, skim it off. (Putting the pan in a bowl of ice water will help the fat to congeal, if you are in a hurry.) Set the saucepan over high heat, bring the juices to a boil, and reduce them, uncovered, until they've thickened to a syrupy sauce.
• Meanwhile, return the veal to the roasting pan and pour any accumulated juices into the saucepan. Baste the veal one more time with hot juices, and put it back in the oven to roast for 30 minutes more, until it is dark and crusty on top and the sides are browned as well.
• To make sure the stuffing is cooked too, insert an instant-read thermometer into the stuffing layer. At 160°, it is ready.
• Remove the veal from the oven, and let it rest for 10 minutes.
• Cut away the kitchen twine. Remove the ribs, loosening them with a knife, and pulling them out one at a time while holding the roast steady.
• Slice crosswise into thick slices with a sharp, serrated knife. Lay the slices on a warm platter, showing off the stuffing layer, and moisten with the sauce. Pass more sauce at the table.
• *Cut them in small pieces, as listed, for sauce. To serve roast vegetables, cut them as described on page 344.
• This stuffing is excellent for turkey and chicken.
• The meat business has changed in my lifetime. Most retail butchers don't get meat in large quarters and "primal" cuts that they skillfully divide any way we ask. Supermarket meat departments, I've found, only get pre-cut sections of the most popular meats, which require minimal cutting before they go out in the case.
• Unfortunately, the ideal veal breast for this recipe is not an item much in demand. It may take dedicated searching to find a butcher in your area who can fabricate the perfect piece: a 5-pound bone-in breast cut, from the tip. That's the very end of the breast, farthest from the front leg, and it has two advantages: lots of cartilage, which adds flavor and richness, and a naturally closed pocket at the tip, which makes stuffing easy.
• On the day we tested this recipe and took these photos, I couldn't get a breast tip anywhere. The piece shown here (which came from a Manhattan supermarket) is only 3 1/2 pounds and cut from the middle, not the closed end of the breast. As you can see, the pocket that I cut for the stuffing is open on both ends.
• I wondered, though, how would I keep the stuffing in? My first idea was to wrap bacon or prosciutto slices around the openings and tie them in place. But we didn't have any in the kitchen that day-and there was no time for shopping. So I did something quite acceptable in cooking-I improvised. I took a flap of veal meat that is hidden under the ribs, next to the cutting board in the photos. I trimmed and pounded it and made a sheet that covered the holes neatly. Tied in place, the patch worked fine. No stuffing was lost, and we enjoyed our roast and delicious sauce for lunch and supper too.
• One of the important-and challenging-lessons in cooking is that we cooks learn to make do with what we have.

STUFFED ROAST VEAL BREAST

Steps:

• In a bowl, mix together the stuffing ingredients.
• Put the veal breast meat side up on a flat surface. Using a sharp, thin knife, slice along the widest side of the breast, as close to the bones as possible, to create a deep pocket. Push the stuffing into the cavity and press on it to distribute it evenly over the bones. Tie the open end shut with soft kitchen string, wrapping it twice to secure the stuffing inside.
• Heat the olive oil in a large casserole. Sprinkle the meat all over with salt, and when the oil is hot, brown the meat for a total of 30 minutes over medium heat, turning occasionally so it is uniformly brown. Add the sliced onion and water; cover, reduce heat to very low and cook 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the meat to a platter. In the remaining juices (about 1 1/2 cups), arrange the potatoes in one layer. Put the roast on top, meat side up, and cook, uncovered, in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the meat is nicely browned on top and the potatoes are cooked through.
• At this point, the roast is cooked enough so the ribs can be twisted and pulled away from the meat. Slice the meat, following the shape of the ribs and slicing right through the cartilage bones. Serve each person one slice with potatoes and pan juices.

PROVENçAL ROASTED GARLIC-BRAISED BREAST OF VEAL WITH SPRINGTIME STUFFING

Steps:

• Prepare the stuffing:
• Bring a large pot full of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the chard and spinach, bring the water back to a boil, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until thoroughly wilted. Drain and squeeze out as much moisture as possible, pressing the greens against a colander with a wooden spoon. Or for a more thorough job, use your hands when the greens have cooled somewhat. Finely chop, either by hand or by pulsing in a food processor.
• In a large skillet, sauté the minced garlic in 3 tablespoons of the oil over moderate heat until pale gold, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chard and spinach. Cook, stirring, over medium heat, until the liquid is evaporated and the garlic is thoroughly distributed, 5 to 7 minutes. The greens should be very tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Sauté the onion in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium heat in 3 tablespoons of the oil until softened, 7 to 10 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains with the onions. In another saucepan, bring the broth to a simmer. Add the broth to the rice a few spoonfuls at a time, as if making risotto. Keep the heat medium-low, and stir, waiting until the broth is nearly absorbed before adding another spoonful. Cook the rice until just tender, 15 to 20 minutes in all. If you finish adding the broth and the rice is not yet tender, add a tablespoon or two of hot water, as needed. Season the rice with salt and pepper (taking in to account the saltiness of the broth you are using), add it to the chard and spinach, and set aside to cool.
• Prepare the garlic head:
• Break the head into single cloves and put them, unpeeled, into a small baking dish in which they fit snugly (I use a 5-inch-square porcelain ramekin). Drizzle with 2 teaspoons of the oil and 1 teaspoon of the thyme. Cover tightly (use foil if you don't have a lid), and roast for 30 to 45 minutes, until a soft puree is formed when you squeeze a clove. Avoid overcooking, which turns the garlic bitter. Squeeze the puree out by hand or run the unpeeled cloves through a food mill to trap the peels. Put the roasted garlic puree in a small bowl and add 1 tablespoon of the rosemary and the lemon juice. Stir well and set aside. Turn off the oven-you will be pan-braising the meat.
• While the garlic is roasting, finish the stuffing:
• In a food processor, pulse the remaining 1 tablespoon each of rosemary and thyme, the parsley, mint, and lemon zest until finely chopped. Add to the rice mixture. Stir in the egg until well combined.
• Trim the veal of gristle and as much fat as possible. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over, including the inside pocket. Fill the pocket with the stuffing, pushing the mixture as far in as possible, but don't overfill-it will expand somewhat while cooking. Sew the pocket closed. (A large embroidery needle and strong cotton thread or unwaxed dental floss work very well here. Or use a trussing needle and kitchen twine. I find skewering not as successful here-the stuffing is more likely to ooze out into the pan gravy.)
• In a 6-quart Dutch oven or heavy casserole just large enough to accommodate the veal, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil until hot, but not smoking. Add the veal and brown it slowly on all sides, turning carefully with wooden spoons so you don't piece the meat. When it is thoroughly browned, arrange the meat so that the fat side is up. Spread the roasted garlic mixtue all over the top. Add the wine and bring to a slow bubble. Place the lid slightly askew, and braise at a slow simmer over very low heat for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or longer, if necessary, until the meat is very tender. Use a flame tamer (blech) or stack two stove burner grates , if you must to keep the flame very low. Every 20 minutes or so, baste with the pan juices. If possible, turn the meat a few times; don't worry about losing the roasted garlic coating on top-it will add delicious flavor to the cooking juices.
• Transfer the veal to a platter, and let it stand for 10 minutes, tented with foil to keep warm. Boil up the cooking juices for a few minutes to concentrate the flavors, taste for seasoning, then transfer to a sauce boat.
• Slice the veal about 1/2-inch thick, making sure that the slices enclose some of the filling. Nap with some of the juices. Pass remaining sauce separately.
• Ashkenazi Mashed Potato Stuffing Variation:
• Don't pass by this fabulous veal because your family refrains from eating rice on Passover. When my agent Elise Goodman wanted to prepare it for her seder, we came up with a wonderful alternative mashed potato stuffing.
• Prepare the stuffing according to the directions above, omitting rice and broth. Sauté the onion until rice gold and set aside. Simmer 3 1/2 cups russet or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed, in cold, salted water to cover, until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and mash the potatoes until smooth. Stir in the reserved sautéed onion (along with any oil remaining in the pan), and 1 additional tablespoon olive oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the potato mixture to the chard and spinach, set aside to cool, and continue with the recipe.