Variety with Veal

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 94, Issue 2, 15 February 1957, Page 201

Variety with Veal

By

MARY HUNT,

Field Officer in Rural Sociology, Depart ment of Agriculture, Christchurch

VARIETY is the key to interesting and appetising meals. As meat is the food around which a great number of meals are planned, it should be served in as many ways as possible. New Zealanders do not eat much veal, and one of the reasons for this may be that many housewives do not realise what a tasty variation to the menu veal can be. A few of the many ways of cooking and serving different cuts of veal are described in this article.

VEAL is the meat from a calf which may be anything from 6 to 12 months old and weighing 601 b. or more. Veal should be paler and have less intermingling fat than beef, though as the meat is often taken from a beast nearly 12 months old, it may be difficult to distinguish it from beef. The external fat should be white and brittle.

Poorer grades of veal will be soft, coarse grained, and brown to dark tan. The fat may be tinged with yellow. The New Zealand Standards Institute has laid down that all meat to be sold on the market must be graded according to quality and marked with grad-

ing stripes. The grading marks for veal are: — '

First grade, one red stripe Second grade, one violet stripe Boner grade, two chocolate stripes Food Value Veal contains less fat than beef, which means that though it has a lower energy value, it has a higher percentage of protein. It contains small amounts of Vitamins A, B 1; and B and some calcium and iron. Cuts . Only the tender cuts are suitable for cooking by dry heat methods such as roasting or frying. Grilling (broiling) is not a suitable way of cooking veal, as being a lean meat it requires cooking with added fat or moist heat. Cuts which are suitable for dry heat cooking are the fillet, the loin, the shoulder, and the ribs. All the less tender cuts should be cooked by moist heat methods such as pot-roasting, stewing,

braising, in a pressure cooker, or boiling as for soups. Roast Veal As it is from a young animal, veal is tender, but because of an abundance of connective tissue it requires long, slow cooking, with the oven at a constant temperature. The roast should be placed fat side uppermost in the roasting pan and extra fat added. If it is a particularly lean roast, lay pieces of fat pork or bacon across the top of it. Cook it in a slow oven (300 degrees F.). - Serve bacon rolls round the meat. Other suitable accompaniments for hot roast veal are forcemeat balls, bread sauce, rice, mushrooms, or onion sauce. Any pickles or relishes can be served with a cold roast. Veal forcemeat is recommended for stuffing veal, and apricot stuffing is also suitable, but other stuffings may be used according to taste.

Veal Forcemeat 2oz. of breadcrumbs loz. of ham Boz. of butter (chopped) i tablespoon of i teaspoon of mixed chopped parsley . herbs Salt and pepper 1 egg (beaten) 1 teaspoon of grated 2 tablespoons of lemon rind milk to bind Mix together the dry ingredients and the ham and add the egg and milk. Any forcemeat that is left after the veal is stuffed can be formed into balls, fried, and served round the meat. Apricot Stuffing To plain bread stuffing made with 4 cups of breadcrumbs add 1 cup of chopped celery, 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley, and 1 cup of chopped dried apricots. Fried Fillets of Veal IJlb. veal fillets (cut i cup of maitre in thin pieces) d’hotel butter (see Flour (seasoned) recipe on page 205) 3 tablespoons of oil 8 to 10 small mushor butter rooms (cooked) Salt and pepper (4 servings)

Dip the veal in the seasoned flour and fry it in the oil. Garnish with mushrooms and maitre d’hotel butter. Serve with asparagus, bacon rolls, or grilled tomatoes (or all three).

Maitre d’Hotel Butter

i cup of butter 2 teaspoons of lemon i teaspoon of salt juice Pepper 2 teaspoons of chopped parsley

Cream the butter and gradually stir in the remaining ingredients. When the butter hardens a little roll it into balls.

Breaded Veal Cutlets

4 veal cutlets 2 tablespoons of 1 egg (beaten) chopped onion Breadcrumbs |lb. of tomatoes i teaspoon of thyme (sliced) 1 teaspoon of salt A little chopped green Shake of pepper pepper (if desired) ' . Fat for cooking.

(4 servings)

Dip the cutlets in the beaten egg and roll in the seasoned breadcrumbs. Cook the cutlets in fat until lightly browned on each side. Cook the green pepper in fat for a few minutes. Put the cutlets and green pepper in, a saucepan and add the tomatoes, onion, and a little water. Cover and simmer .gently until the meat is tender (about 1 to lg hours).

Veal Steaks in Cream Sauce

IJlb. of veal steaks J cup of cream (cut in thin pieces) (preferably sour) Flour Salt and pepper to .Fat for frying taste

(4 servings)

Roll the steaks and secure them with a toothpick. Dip them in the flour and brown in shallow fat. Add the cream, salt, and pepper, cover, and simmer slowly for 1 to l-g hours. Thicken the sauce with flour and water and pour it over the steaks. Veal and Olives lijlb. of veal steak J cup of wine 4 tablespoons of 1 tablespoon of lemon butter juice Salt and pepper 8 or 9 olives (4 servings) . ' Cut the veal in very thin pieces. Sprinkle the pieces with salt and pepper. Fry quickly in the butter on both sides. Add the wine, lemon juice, and the olives cut into narrow strips. Heat this sauce and serve it over the meat. The veal should take about 5 minutes to cook. Stuffed Breast of Veal 41b. of boned breast Jib. of thinly sliced of veal ham Salt and pepper . Stuffing 2 cups of bread- J cup of diced celery crumbs 1 teaspoon of salt 2 veal kidneys Pepper J cup of minced J teaspoon of paprika ... onion 1 egg (8 to 9 servings)

Sprinkle the veal lightly with salt and pepper. Mix all the ingredients for the stuffing. Spread this on the veal and arrange the ham on the

stuffing. ' Roll up the roast and tie it with string. Melt 2 tablespoons of fat and brown the meat on all sides. Add 4 cup of water, cover, and simmer for 24 to 3 hours. Serve either hot or cold. Swedish Veal Fillets l|lb. of veal fillets 2 teaspoons of (cut in thin pieces) parsley (chopped) Salt and pepper 2 teaspoons of lemon 2 tablespoons of juice butter i pint of cream Stock or water (4 servings) Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper. Mix the butter, parsley, and lemon juice. Place a pat of the butter mixture on each fillet. Roll and tie the fillets with string. Melt a little butter and brown the meat on all sides in this. Add sufficient stock or water to cover the meat. . Cover and simmer until tender (1 to 14 hours). Remove the meat and strain the sauce. Add the cream and heat very gently, but do not boil. Pour the sauce over the meat. Veal and Ham Pie lib. of veal 1 teaspoon of mixed Flour (seasoned) . herbs Jib. of ham (cooked 1 teaspoon of chopped and diced) parsley 1 hard-boiled egg I teaspoon of salt (sliced) . : Boz. of flaky pastry (4 to 5 servings) Cut the veal into cubes, roll it in the flour seasoned with the salt, and brown in fat. Add sufficient water ,to cover the meat and simmer until tender (1 to 14 hours). Add the ham, egg, parsley, and herbs and cover the dish with pastry. Bake at 450 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes. Veal and Ham Loaf 2|lb. of veal (shank, 11b. of tomatoes breast, or neck) (chopped) Jib. of ham (cooked) 1 cup of breadcrumbs 1 tablespoon of . J teaspoon of mixed chopped onion herbs 1 teaspoon of salt (7 to 8 servings) Mince the veal and the ham and add all the remaining ingredients. Mix well and put into a greased loaf tin. Bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees F.) for 2 to 24 hours. Veal Pinwheel Savouries 2 cups of cooked veal 6 teaspoons of baking (minced) powder (level) 1 small onion (finely 6 tablespoons of . chopped) butter or fat 3 cup of water About 14 cups of 4 cups of flour milk Cook the onion in the water and then add the veal. Reheat and thicken if necessary. Make a scone mixture from the remaining ingredients. Roll out the dough thinly and spread the veal over the top. Roll up the dough like a cylinder and cut it into crosswise pieces about lin. thick. Place cut side down on a greased oven tray. Bake at 375 degrees F. for 30 to 40 minutes. Serve with tomato sauce or gravy.

Preserving Mushrooms

By .ELEANOR COUSTON,

Field Officer in Rural Sociology, Department of Agriculture, Christchurch

THE mushroom season is short, but while it lasts mushrooms can be used in many ways in sauces, soups, and savoury dishes. Delicious though they are, when abundant supplies are available it is usually felt that they would be appreciated more if their availability was spread over a longer period. For out-of-season use they can be preserved by bottling or by drying.

Bo til in a Ttttt. y ~, „, , „ HE methods recommended for bottling mushrooms are the same as for other kinds of vegetables, that is, by processing them in a water bath or in a pressure cooker which can be regulated to 101 b. pressure. Pint jars will hold a lot of mushrooms and are large enough for the use of an average-sized family. Remove coarse stems, clean, peel, and wash the mushrooms as for cooking. Cut the large ones. Fry in a little lard for 1 minute, then add a very little ..water, and cook until tender. Alternatively, blanch the mushrooms by placing them in a wire' basket or a muslin bag and lower them into boiling water until they are . wilted. The first method results in a less watery product. Pack into clean jars, add J teaspoon of salt to each jar, and fill up with the cooking liquid to within i-in. of the top. If there is not enough liquid, add hot water to the required level, If self-sealing lids are used, put the inner lid in position and screw on the band as tightly as possible. place the jars on a rack in the water bath. Pour in very hot water until the jars are covered. Put on the lid. Bring to the boil and boil for 3 hours. If a pressure cooker is used, place

the rack in the bottom of the cooker

and add water to the level of the rack., Put in the jars, fasten the lid of the coo k er an d heat until the steam has: been issuing freely for 5 minutes Close the petcock and let the pressure rise . Process at 101 b. pressure for 35 m j nu tes for pint jars and 60 minutes; f or quart jars. Allow to cool slowly., when cool open the petcock graduallyan(j remove -the jars, Allow the jars to stand in the up-* right position for 24 hours, ' move the outer screw band. Test the seal, , Drying Prepare the mushrooms as for bottling. Place them in a wire basket or a muslin bag and blanch in steam . for 8 minutes. Spread the mushrooms on wire racks and place these on the slatted shelves in the oven. Not more than two tray loads should be done at one time. The temperature of the oven should not exceed 150 degrees F., and the oven door should be left ajar throughout the drying;,; period. Turn the racks and change from top to bottom every J hour. The time required is 6 to 8 hours. Store in small, airtight containers, j n a coo l, dark place. Heading photograph by Green and Hahn.