On a Roll (Part 2) – Stove Braised Lemon Veal

Part two of the tale of what befell yon blogger in part 1.

This is all about how to make a veal roast in a pan on the stove top.  The reason I made this veal roast is because it is very very very tender and I knew that one of my esteemed guests at the dinner table that evening, who finds chewing a challenge at the moment, would be able to ‘consume’ this without worrying about her chompers.

I owe the stove-top tip of this recipe, and many others, to my next door neighbout Rossella who, although very liberal in her views and open to all kinds of opinions, remains nevertheless very conservative when it comes to classic Roman cooking.  Prescriptive even. She is a born diplomat and wouldn’t ever out and out say “how barbarous” about the way I go about cooking certain dishes but she is known to sniff involontarily and purse her lips in bewilderment at the way I can mix more than three ingredients or herbs in any given recipe.  She is, in other words, a purist, a minimalist of sorts.

And this veal recipe reflects her minimalism.  It requires a tender cut of veal (though it does not have to be fillet/tenderloin).  A clove of garlic.  Some oil.  Some lemon juice.  That’s it.  And salt and pepper too, of course.

I cut the veal into two and used a heavy-bottomed pan.  I poured olive oil, enough to cover the whole bottom of the pan, added one clove of garlic, and sautéed the meat, turning it over until it browned.  This took a few minutes over a medium flame.

At this point, I covered the top of the pan with a sheet of parchment or oven-proof paper …

And then covered that with a lid :

I frankly can’t explain what alchemical bonus this covering of the meat with both a sheet of parchment paper and a lid adds to the meat.  Maybe it is something about sealing in its moisture?  Anyway, whatever the reason, it works and, repeat, the end result is uber tender meat.

I let the meat cook for about twenty minutes … checking now and then and turning the meat over … and then took it off the heat and transferred it to a chopping board.

I sliced the meat and then went to sort out the sauce.  I squeezed half a lemon into the pan :

I snapped this picture before removing the meat from the pan.  But I didn’t squeeze the lemon until the meat was gone.

This is the most amazing lemony gravy ever!  I used a sieve to pour it over the meat.

This photo gives a better idea of the softness and tastiness of the meat and its golden companion, the sauce.  Sheer, bare, unadorned, ungilded meat minimalism.  Thank you Rossella !