Nancy Silverton and Matt
Molina have a brand new cookbook called (naturally) The Mozza Cookbook. They
had a wonderful event at the restaurant where they gave us a copy of the
cookbook and served lots of food from recipes from the book. We asked Matt what
was the first recipe we should make and he suggested: veal breast stracotto.
We called Nate at McCall’s Meat and Fish and tried to order a veal breast, however, he informed us he
needs a weeks notice to get fresh veal. He highly recommended NOT getting frozen
veal. I thought it would be easy to find fresh veal and called all of the major
markets. None had fresh veal, only frozen. Finally from the recesses of mind, I
sort of remembered that Kosher butchers would have fresh veal. I called one and
he said they had it. On the internet I found one: Doheny Glatt Kosher Meat.
Since we were planning to go
over to the west side of LA for a Doctor appointment, we decided to
pick one up there. Oye, a new problem! It was Friday and of course a Kosher
butcher shop closes early, so they can be home before Sunset. We prepared to
dash over and then received a call from Robert, he was independently of us
planning a veal dinner and he could not get fresh veal. Nate must of told him
we were in the same boat. He called us, and we volunteered to pick up his meat.
When we arrived at the
butcher shop, the first person we talked to tried to sell us frozen veal. I was
devastated we had driven all the way over and now they didn’t have fresh veal.
What a bummer. I said I had talked them over the phone and they said they had
fresh meat. He told me to speak to the owner. Easier said than done. I had
never been there before and had no idea who the owner was. Meanwhile the clock
was ticking towards their closing and Cathy’s Doctor appointment time. Finally
a man said, he remembered the call and would get us fresh veal. He made a phone
call and a few minutes later a man walked into the butcher shop with a half of
veal slung over his shoulder. They then carved out a beautiful breast for us.
He did say that if we only wanted 9 pounds he wouldn’t have gotten the veal. Oh
well. Now I know where and when (not late Friday afternoon) to get fresh veal.
This was a dinner that kept
on giving! The original serving of meat and Vegetables were delicious, but a
little salty for my taste. Cathy figured out how to dilute the saltiness. We
shredded the meat and used it to make a Bolognese Pasta sauce. We
used the recipe for Garganelli with Veal Ragu On Top of Spaghetti by Johanne Killeen and
George Germon. This is an excellent ragu recipe. You can find the recipe in our
blog of: Feb. 28, 2011. Click the date to get the recipe. We still had pasta
left over! We then converted it to a Baked Pasta, by mixing fresh Burrata
Cheese and topping with Parmesan Cheese.This expensive veal gave us a lot
of dinners. As I am writing this we still have leftover baked Pasta and plan to
eat it tomorrow night!
We started with: Tricolore With Parmigiano-Reggiano And Anchovy
Dressing from the same Mozza Cookbook. This is a great recipe and tought me we
could make Caesar Salad Dressing in the Magimix!
veal breast stracotto
The Mozza Cookbook
Nancy Silverton
One of my favorite daytrips
from my house in Italy is to the town of Panzano in Chianti, to visit the
world-famous butcher Dario Cecchini. Dario has been covered by every food
publication imaginable, and since Bill Buford wrote about him in his memoir,
Heat, Dario's shop has become a mecca for foodies traveling in Italy. To meet
the demand of his fans, Dario now has three restaurants that people can visit
while they're there: a steakhouse serving prime cuts, such as bistecca
fiorentina, a classic preparation of a T-bone or porterhouse grilled over a
wood fire; a hamburger restaurant, Dario Plus; and my favorite of the three,
Solo Ciccia. This restaurant, whose name means "only meat," offers
lesser cuts of meats prepared in a variety of ways, many of them cooked long
and slow, or stracotto, like this dish. Veal breast isn 't something you '11
find at your average grocery store, so you '11 have to get it from a butcher,
and you will probably have to special-order it. Ask the butcher to save the
bones he carved the breast from, as you '11 use those to make the stock in which
the meat is braised. While you 're at it, have him roll and tie the breast for
you, too. Even though this might be out of your ordinary shopping routine, the
good news is that you'll end up with a rich, luxurious veal dish for not a lot
of money.
for seasoning the veal
1 4-pound boneless veal breast, bones reserved
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
for the veal stock (optional)
8 cups Basic Chicken Stock
1 leek, cleaned thoroughly and roughly chopped into 1-inch
pieces
1 large Spanish onion, roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces '
1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces
for braising the veal
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 pound prosciutto, ground or finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely diced (about 1 cup)
1 large carrot,
peeled and finely diced Half of a large Spanish onion, finely diced
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons double-concentrated tomato paste
1 750-ml. bottle dry white wine 1 quart veal stock or Basic
Chicken Stock , warmed if gelatinous
4 turnips,
halved or quartered depending on their size, or 8 baby turnips (about 2
pounds), or whole unpeeled baby carrots with 1-inch greens attached
for the garnish
3/4 cup whole fresh Italian parsley leaves
3/4 cup whole fresh celery
leaves (only pale green leaves from the hearts)
Zested strips of 3 lemons
1 tablespoon finishing-quality extra-virgin olive oil
Maldon sea salt or another flaky sea salt, such as fleur de
sel
To season the veal, place
the breast in a nonreactive baking
dish and season it all over
with the salt and pepper, using approximately 1 teaspoon of salt per pound of
meat. If your butcher did not roll and tie the veal breast, roll it tightly
lengthwise into a long log shape and tie it with kitchen twine in five or six
places along the roll. Cover the dish tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate
for at least I hour and up to overnight.
Meanwhile, if you are making
the stock, adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to
325°F.
Place the veal bones on a
baking sheet and roast them, shaking the pan occasionally for even cooking,
until they're evenly browned, about 1-1/2 hours. Remove the baking sheet from
the oven and transfer the bones to a large stockpot. Add the chicken stock and
bring it to a boil over high heat, skimming off the foam that rises to the top.
Add the leek, onion, and carrot, reduce the heat, and simmer the stock for 1
hour, skimming as needed. Remove the stock from the heat, pour it through a
fine-mesh strainer, and discard the contents of the strainer. Use the stock, or
set aside to cool to room temperature, transfer it to an airtight container and
refrigerate for up to three days.
To braise the veal, adjust
the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350°F.
Cut the veal in half, if
necessary, for it to fit in the pan. Heat 1/4 cup of the oil over medium-high
heat in a large Dutch oven or large, high-sided saute pan until the oil is
almost smoking and slides easily in the pan, 2 to 3 minutes. Place the veal in
the pan to sear to deep brown on all sides, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the veal
to a plate.
Add 2 tablespoons of the
remaining olive oil to the pan. Reduce the heat to medium low, add the prosciutto,
and cook, stirring constantly, to render the fat but not to brown the
prosciutto, 2 to 3 minutes. Increase the heat to medium, add the remaining ¼ cup
of olive oil, and warm the oil for a minute or two before adding the celery,
carrot, and onion. Season the vegetables with the pepper, and saute until the
vegetables are softened and slightly caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the
garlic and saute for 1 minute, stirring constantly to prevent it from browning.
Move the vegetables to create a bare spot in the pan, add the tomato paste to
that spot, and cook for 1 minute more, stirring, to caramelize the tomato paste
slightly. Add the wine, increase the heat to high, and boil until it reduces by
about half, about 5 minutes. Return the veal and any juices that have collected
on the plate it was resting on to the pan. Pour in enough stock to come half to
three-fourths of up the veal breast, about 4 cups. Increase the heat to medium high
and bring the stock to a simmer. Turn off the heat. If you have industrial-strength
plastic wrap, which won't melt in the oven, cover the Dutch oven or pan tightly
with plastic wrap. In either case, cover tightly with aluminum foil and place
the lid on if it has one. Place the veal in the oven for 2 hours. Remove the
pot from the oven and uncover it. Add the turnips, nestling them in the sauce,
return the lid to the pot, and place it back in the oven for about 1 hour,
until the meat is fork-tender and the vegetables are tender. Remove the veal
from the oven and remove and discard the foil and plastic wrap (if you used it)
from the pan, being careful not to burn yourself with the steam that will rise
from the pan. Allow the meat to cool in the braising liquid for at least 30
minutes. You can prepare the veal to this point up to five days in advance.
Cool the meat and turnips to room temperature in the braising liquid. Remove
the vegetables and transfer them to an airtight container. Cover the pot with
plastic or transfer the veal with the liquid to an airtight container and refrigerate
until you are ready to serve it. (You will proceed slightly differently.) If
you have prepared the veal in advance and are rewarming it, preheat the oven to
350°F. Remove the veal and turnips from the refrigerator. Remove and discard
the fat from the liquid and pour it into a large Dutch oven or stovetop-safe
baking dish and cook as directed below to thicken. Remove the string and slice
the veal as directed below and lay the slices in the sauce, resting them on top
of one another, domino fashion. Nestle the turnips around the veal and place
the dish in the oven for about 30 minutes, basting the vegetables and the veal
with the sauce occasionally, until the meat is warmed through.
I
f you are serving the dish
the same day, remove the veal and turnips to a plate, skim the fat from the
braising liquid, and bring the liquid to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat
and simmer the liquid until it is the consistency of a thick glaze or thin
gravy, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the pan; it will
be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
To make the garnish, combine
the parsley leaves, celery leaves, and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Drizzle the
leaves with the finishing-quality olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, and toss
gently to combine.
To serve, cut off and
discard the string from the veal and cut it into eight slices of even
thickness. Lay two slices of veal on each of four plates, resting one at an
angle on top of the other. Nestle the turnips around the veal, dividing them
evenly, and ladle the sauce over the meat. Pile the garnish on each serving,
dividing it evenly, and serve.
Tricolore With Parmigiano-Reggiano And Anchovy Dressing
The Mozza Cookbook
Nancy Silverton Matt Molina
for the dressing
5 anchovy
fillets (preferably salt-packed), rinsed and backbones removed if salt-packed
1-1/2 tablespoons
red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon
fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
1 large garlic clove, finely
chopped
½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more
to taste
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black
pepper, plus more to taste
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
for the salad
3 large heads red Belgian endive,
or 1 large head radicchio leaves, leaves torn into large pieces
3 large heads frisee
6 cups
loosely packed arugula (preferably wild arugula)
Kosher salt
¼ cup + 3 tablespoons
freshly grated
Parmigiano-Reggiano
The red, green and white tricolore salad, traditionally
composed of radicchio, frisee, and endive, is just one of the many ways that
Italians celebrate their flag. I like tricolore salads, but this version, which
is tossed in an anchovy-enhanced dressing with lots of grated
Parmigiano-Reggiano, was my way of sneaking the flavors of a Caesar salad onto
the Pizzeria menu without calling it a Caesar. In the rare instance that a
Caesar salad is done well, it is one of my favorite salads, but Caesar salad is
such a cliché on Italian-American menus—and it's not even Italian; it was
invented in Tijuana—I could never have put it on my menu as such.
Serves 4 as a Starter or 2 as a Main Course
To make the dressing, combine the anchovies, vinegar, lemon juice,
garlic, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal
blade or the jar of a blender and puree. With the motor running, add the olive
oil in a steady stream through the feed tube to create an emulsion. Turn off
the machine, taste for seasoning, and add more salt, pepper, or lemon juice, if
desired. Use the dressing or transfer it to an airtight container and
refrigerate for up to three days. Bring the dressing to room temperature, whisk
to recombine the ingredients, and taste again for seasoning before using.
To prepare the salad, discard any brown or unappealing outer
leaves from the endive and frisee. Pull the leaves away from the cores, putting
them in a large, wide bowl, and discard the cores. Add the arugula, sprinkle
with salt, and toss gently to combine the lettuces and distribute the salt
evenly. Drizzle 1/2 cup of the dressing, sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the
Parmigiano-Reggiano, and toss gently to coat the lettuce leaves with the
dressing. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or dressing, if desired.
Pile the salad on a large plate or divide it among four
individual plates. Sprinkle with the remaining 3 tablespoons of the
Parmigiano-Reggiano and serve.
