VEAL
Veal is the meat obtained from a young calf killed when six to eight
weeks old. Veal from a younger animal is very unwholesome, and is liable
to provoke serious gastric disturbances. Veal contains a much smaller
percentage of fat than beef or mutton, is less nutritious, and (though
from a young creature) more difficult of digestion. Like lamb, it is not
improved by long hanging, but should be eaten soon after killing and
dressing. It should always be remembered that the flesh of young animals
does not keep fresh as long as that of older ones. Veal is divided in
same manner as lamb, into fore and hind quarters. The fore-quarter is
subdivided into breast, shoulder, and neck; the hind-quarter into loin,
leg, and knuckle. Cutlets, fillets (cushion), and fricandeau are cut
from the thick part of leg.
Good veal may be known by its pinkish-colored flesh and white fat; when
the flesh lacks color, it has been taken from a creature which was too
young to kill for food, or, if of the right age, was bled before
killing. Veal may be obtained throughout the year, but is in season
during the spring. Veal should be thoroughly cooked; being deficient in
fat and having but little flavor, pork or butter should be added while
cooking, and more seasoning is required than for other meats.
Veal Cutlets
Use slices of veal from leg cut one-half inch thick. Wipe, remove bone
and skin, then cut in pieces for serving. The long, irregular-shaped
pieces may be rolled, and fastened with small wooden skewers. Sprinkle
with salt and pepper; dip in flour, egg, and crumbs; fry slowly, until
well browned, in salt pork fat or butter; then remove cutlets to stewpan
and pour over one and one-half cups Brown Sauce. Place on back of range
and cook slowly forty minutes, or until cutlets are tender.
Veal may be cooked first in boiling water until tender, then crumbed and
fried. The water in which veal was cooked may be used for sauce. Arrange
on hot platter, strain sauce and pour around cutlets, and garnish with
parsley.
=Brown Sauce.= Brown three tablespoons butter, add three tablespoons
flour, and stir until well browned. Add gradually one and one-half cups
stock or water, or half stock and half stewed and strained tomatoes.
Season with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and Worcestershire Sauce. The
trimmings from veal (including skin and bones) may be covered with one
and one-half cups cold water, allowed to heat slowly to boiling-point,
then cooked, strained, and used for sauce.
Veal Chops Bavarian
Wipe six loin chops and put in a stewpan with one-half onion, eight
slices carrot, two stalks celery, one-half teaspoon peppercorns, four
cloves, and two tablespoons butter. Cover with boiling water and cook
until tender. Drain, season with salt and pepper, dip in flour, egg, and
crumbs, fry in deep fat, and drain on brown paper. Arrange chops on hot
serving dish and surround with boiled flat macaroni to which Soubise
Sauce (see p. 267) is added.
Fricassee of Veal
Wipe two pounds sliced veal, cut from loin, and cover with boiling
water; add one small onion, two stalks celery, and six slices carrot.
Cook slowly until meat is tender. Remove meat, sprinkle with salt and
pepper, dredge with flour, and sauté in pork fat. Strain liquor (there
should be two cups). Melt four tablespoons butter, add four tablespoons
flour and strained liquor. Bring to boiling-point, season with salt and
pepper, and pour around meat. Garnish with parsley.
Minuten Fleisch
1½ lbs. veal cut in thin slices
Salt and pepper
⅔ cup claret wine
Flour
1⅓ cups Brown Stock
Juice 1 lemon
2 sprigs parsley
Pound veal until one-fourth inch thick and cut in pieces for serving.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper, put in baking-pan, pour over wine, and
let stand thirty minutes. Drain, dip in flour, arrange in two buttered
pans, and pour over remaining ingredients and wine which was drained
from meat. Cover, and cook slowly until meat is tender. Remove to
serving dish and pour over sauce remaining in pan.
Loin of Veal à la Jardinière
Wipe four pounds loin of veal, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and dredge
with flour. Put one-fourth cup butter in deep stewpan; when melted, add
veal and brown entire surface of meat, watching carefully and turning
often, that it may not burn. Add one cup hot water, cover closely, and
cook slowly two hours, or until meat is tender, adding more water as
needed, using in all about three cups. Remove meat, thicken stock
remaining in pan with flour diluted with enough cold water to pour
easily. Surround the meat with two cups each boiled turnips and carrots,
cut in half-inch cubes, and potatoes cut in balls. Serve gravy in a
tureen.
Braised Shoulder of Veal
Bone, stuff, and sew in shape five pounds shoulder of veal; then cook
same as Braised Beef, adding with vegetables two sprigs thyme and one of
marjoram.
English Meat Pie
Knuckle of veal
1 slice onion
1 slice carrot
Bit of bay leaf
Sprig of parsley
12 peppercorns
Blade of mace
2 teaspoons salt
½ lb. lean raw ham
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons butter
2 doz. bearded oysters
Remove meat from bones. Cover bones with cold water, add vegetables and
seasonings, and heat slowly to boiling-point. Add meat, boil five
minutes, and let simmer until meat is tender; remove meat and reduce
stock to two cups. Put ham in frying-pan, cover with lukewarm water, and
let stand on back of range one hour. Brown butter, add flour, and when
well browned add stock; then add veal and ham each cut into cubes. Let
simmer twenty minutes and add oysters. Put in serving dish and cover
with top made of puff paste. It is much better to bake the paste
separately and cover pie just before sending to table.
Roast Veal
The leg, cushion (thickest part of leg), and loin, are suitable pieces
for roasting. When leg is to be used, it should be boned at market. Wipe
meat, sprinkle with salt and pepper, stuff, and sew in shape. Place on
rack in dripping-pan, dredge meat and bottom of pan with flour, and
place around meat strips of fat salt pork. Bake three or four hours in
moderate oven, basting every fifteen minutes with one-third cup butter
melted in one-half cup boiling water, until used, then baste with fat in
pan. Serve with brown gravy.
Fricandeau of Veal
Lard a cushion of veal and roast or braise.
India Curry
Wipe a slice of veal one-half inch thick, weighing one and one-half
pounds, and cook in frying-pan without butter, quickly searing one side,
then the other. Place on a board and cut in one and one-half inch
pieces. Fry two sliced onions in one-half cup butter until brown, remove
onions, and add to the butter, meat, and one-half tablespoon curry
powder, then cover with boiling water. Cook slowly until meat is tender.
Thicken with flour diluted with enough cold water to pour easily; then
add one teaspoon vinegar. Serve with a border of steamed rice.
Veal Birds
Wipe slices of veal from leg, cut as thinly as possible, then remove
bone, skin, and fat. Pound until one-fourth inch thick and cut in pieces
two and one-half inches long by one and one-half inches wide, each piece
making a bird. Chop trimmings of meat, adding for every three birds a
piece of fat salt pork cut one inch square and one-fourth inch thick;
pork also to be chopped. Add to trimmings and pork one-half their
measure of fine cracker crumbs, and season highly with salt, pepper,
cayenne, poultry seasoning, lemon juice, and onion juice. Moisten with
beaten egg and hot water or stock. Spread each piece with thin layer of
mixture and avoid having mixture come close to edge. Roll, and fasten
with skewers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and fry
in hot butter until a golden brown. Put in stewpan, add cream to half
cover meat, cook slowly twenty minutes or until tender. Serve on small
pieces of toast, straining cream remaining in pan over birds and toast,
and garnish with parsley. A Thin White Sauce in place of cream may be
served around birds.
Veal Loaf I
Separate a knuckle of veal in pieces by sawing through bone. Wipe, put
in kettle with one pound lean veal and one onion; cover with boiling
water, and cook slowly until veal is tender. Drain, chop meat finely,
and season highly with salt and pepper. Garnish bottom of a mould with
slices of “hard-boiled” eggs and parsley. Put in layer of meat, layer of
thinly sliced “hard-boiled” eggs, sprinkle with finely chopped parsley,
and cover with remaining meat. Pour over liquor, which should be reduced
to one cupful. Press and chill, turn on a dish, and garnish with
parsley.
Veal Loaf II
Wipe three pounds lean veal, and remove skin and membrane. Chop finely
or force through meat chopper, then add one-half pound fat salt pork
(also finely chopped), six common crackers (rolled), four tablespoons
cream, two tablespoons lemon juice, one tablespoon salt, one-half
tablespoon pepper, and a few drops onion juice. Pack in a small bread
pan, smooth evenly on top, brush with white of egg, and bake slowly
three hours, basting with one-fourth cup pork fat. Prick frequently
while baking, that pork fat may be absorbed by meat. Cool, remove from
pan, and cut in thin slices for serving.
Broiled Veal Kidneys
Order veal kidneys with the suet left on. Trim, split, and broil ten
minutes. Arrange on pieces of toast and pour over melted butter seasoned
with salt, cayenne, and lemon juice.
Veal Kidneys à la Canfield
Trim kidneys, cook in Brown Stock ten minutes, drain, and cut in slices.
Arrange alternate slices of kidney and thinly sliced bacon on skewers
with a fresh mushroom cap at either end of each skewer. Broil until
bacon is crisp and arrange on pieces of toast. Pour over sauce made from
stock in which kidneys were cooked, seasoned with salt, cayenne, and
Madeira wine.
WAYS OF WARMING OVER VEAL
Minced Veal on Toast
Prepare as Minced Lamb on Toast, using veal in place of lamb.
Blanquette of Veal
Reheat two cups cold roast veal, cut in small strips, in one and
one-half cups White Sauce I. Serve in a potato border and sprinkle over
all finely chopped parsley.
Ragoût of Veal
Reheat two cups cold roast veal, cut in cubes, in one and one-half cups
Brown Sauce seasoned with one teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce, few drops
of onion juice, and a few grains of cayenne.