Ive signed up to Alternative Meats Gourmet Surprise Box which, for 25 per month, supplies me with a box of meaty goodies to inspire my cooking.
The latest box contained a wild rabbit, pigeon breasts, diced Welsh wagyu beef, veal escalopes, kangaroo sausages and veal fillet goujons. Im drooling as I type.
It arrived frozen, so I use them as and when the inspiration hits me.
This is my third recipe from the box¦.Rose Veal Escalopes with Bacon-Mushroom Sauce.
Rosé Veal is pale pink in colour, and reared in welfare friendly conditions on Westmorlands Best Managed Farm Heaves Farm. It was shortlisted in the Heart of England Diamond Awards, where the judges comments included: œGreat flavour, delicate and subtle melts in the mouth smooth, soft and light
It is INCREDIBLY tender so requires no more than a glimpse of a very hot pan.
Serve it with this amazing sauce, the recipe for which was given to me by Drogo Montagu, owner ofFine Food Specialist. He used it to complement pan-fried halibut (check out the video I shot of him cooking it) but I thought it would work just as well with veal, with a tweak here and there.
Drogo used girolle mushrooms (or ceps, as theyre also known) but Ive used common-or-garden white mushrooms (much cheaper) and the results are just as sensational: sweet, nutty and creamy, with a long lingering depth.
Serves 2
For the veal
1 tbsp olive oil
Big knob of butter
2 rose veal escalopes, sinew removed to create 4 steaks
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
For the sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
6 rashers Oscar Mayer streaky smoked bacon (this is key: its American bacon, which is very sweet and crisps up beautifully)
250g mushrooms (any kind)
250ml double cream
1 glass white wine
1 garlic clove
30g unsalted butter
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pan-roasted potatoes and steamed Tenderstem broccoli, to serve.
1. To make the sauce, clean and prepare the mushrooms (If there is a lot of soil, you can wash them in water and pat them dry with kitchen towel)
2. Remove the stalks and reserve for the mushroom stock. Finely chop the tops.
3. Make a simple mushroom stock by adding the stalks to a pan of water and bringing it to the boil. Once it boils, add a capful of wine and a crushed clove of garlic then turn down the heat and let it simmer.
4. Add a knob of butter to a hot saucepan pan and add a splash of olive oil, which will stop the butter from burning. Add the spring onions and mushrooms and cook them down until all the water has been released (you will hear the sound change from a bubbling to a sizzling). Now add a splash of wine into the pan. The pan must be hot enough for the wine to bubble fiercely and burn off the alcohol. Once the booze has cooked off add 100ml of the mushroom stock to the mushrooms and leave to simmer.
5. Cut the bacon into a fine dice and fry off until crispy. Reserve for later.
6. Once the liquid of the sauce has reduced down again, add the cream and allow to simmer and reduce the flavours. When the sauce starts to bubble thickly it is ready. Add a tablespoon more of the mushroom stock to thin it out and then add the bacon and thyme. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.
7. For the veal, dust each escalope in flour seasoned with salt and pepper.
8. Heat the olive oil and butter in a frying pan until hot. Cook the escalopes for approx. 2 mins, basting and turning every few seconds so that the flour doesnt burn. Transfer to a plate to rest.
9. Serve the escalopes with pan-roasted potatoes and steamed Tenderstem broccoli, smothered with the creamy bacon-mushroom sauce.
