Veal Scallopini with Mushroom Cream Sauce

Today I'm making veal scallopini with a rich, silky mushroom cream sauce. It's quick and easy to prepare once you know how. The real trick is making today's veal tender and I will explain how that is accomplished below. The meal can be prepared in under 60 minutes, and under 30 if you prep the vegetables and veal in advance. 

Perfect with a side of pasta to soak up that lovely sauce!

Of course a good mushroom cream sauce will go with just about anything, but one of my favorites is veal. By quickly browning the veal, then topping with the cream sauce, you will have very tender veal with a mild yet flavorful sauce, perfect in the fall and winter. I love the flavor and texture you get when you combine the veal with cooked mushrooms and cream. When choosing your menu remember that, because both the veal and the sauce are rich, relatively small servings are in order. I usually serve two medium sized cutlets per person, often with a side of pasta I've tossed in the extra sauce. 

Mushroom Cream Sauce

Cooked Veal Cutlets


Avoiding Tough Veal
Because veal scallopini is either cut or pounded out quit thin, it’s easy to over cook. If you do over cook it, you’ll turn what could be tender, delicate veal into a tough unappetizing piece of meat. Veal this thin takes only 2 minutes total cooking time over medium-high heat. Unfortunately now in the United States tender veal is hard to find even when cooked properly. 

Supermarket veal cutlets are a far cry from the delicate milk-fed veal served in restaurants. Milk fed veal will be more tender than corn fed by a large margin. But that also makes milk-fed veal more expensive. Further, in the 1950s and 1960s Americans ate four pounds of veal a year on average. Today per capita consumption is around half a pound a year. So farmers produce less veal, especially younger milk-fed veal, because the demand and profit margin is low. So most supermarket veal today is in fact corn fed from older animals. It's still called veal because most of the beef sold in the US is butchered at 12 to 16 months, which is technically allowed to be called veal. Under the USDA regulations, they are calves until 2 years old. Finally, most cutlets sold in stores are cut from the less expensive (and more tough) leg or shoulder rather than the loin or rib.  So with tough corn-fed, older veal cuts on offer at the store, what are you to do? Tenderize.

Tenderization Options
To tenderize supermarket veal, you have several choices as noted below. As you've likely purchased these as thin veal cutlets, pounding them further to tenderize is not an option. If you do have thicker pieces of veal pounding them between sheets of plastic wrap is required, but you will still need to tenderize. 

Velveting
The velveting technique often used by the Chinese in their dishes uses only baking soda. This means sprinkling the cutlets with baking soda using 1 1/2 teaspoons per pound of meat. Toss the baking soda over the meat to coat evenly and let rest in the refrigerator on a plate for 30 minutes before using. Alternative dissolve the soda in 1/4 cup water and place in a plastic zipper bag with the veal to soak for 30 minutes. Then rinse with cold water and dry thoroughly with paper towel before proceeding with the recipe. 

Commercially Produced Tenderizer
You can purchase commercially produced meat tenderizer such as Adolphs (a McCormick & Company brand). It is made in both seasoned and unseasoned versions, but be aware that even those marked 'unseasoned' still contain flavors like salt, sugar, and pineapple extracts (aka bromelain, which is a natural meat tenderizer.) Most don't contain MSG but if you are sensitive to it, do check the label to make sure. Simply moisten the surface of the veal cutlets, shake on tenderizer (about 1 teaspoon per 1 pound of meat), and proceed with the recipe as there is no significant resting (marinating) time required. Because most all commercially made meat tenderizer contains sodium, it is unnecessary to salt the cutlets before cooking. Using low sodium chicken broth is recommended if you use a meat tenderizer. As always, check the label and follow the manufacturers instructions if they vary from the above.

Buy a Veal Roast or Milk Fed Veal Online
To experience tender veal scaloppini without using meat tenderizer, you can buy a milk-fed veal roast cut from the loin or rib and slice yourself. Supermarket cutlets from the leg or shoulder cost $10 to $20 per pound, depending on the market. Cutlets that you make yourself from milk fed veal rib chops will end up costing closer to $25 or $30 per pound. Alternatively you can buy milk fed veal cutlets in some shop’s online.

Ingredient Ready

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

1 pound thinly sliced veal 
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons meat tenderizer or baking soda (see above)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
1 small onion diced
8 ounces mushrooms (any type), stemmed and sliced
3-4 cloves garlic, pressed or finely chopped
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon or basil
salt and pepper

Optional pasta for side 

Instructions

Sprinkle veal lightly with tenderizer per above instructions unless you have milk fed veal cut from the loin or rib. Set aside while you assemble your ingredients and dice the onion, slice the mushrooms and push the garlic through a press or chop very finely. 

Add olive oil and one tablespoon of butter to a non-stick sauté pan and heat over medium-high heat. When the foaming subsides, salt and pepper the veal (unless you used a salty tenderizer), then lightly flour one side of enough veal pieces to fit into your pan. Do not over-crowd the pan. Do not flour the remainder until ready for cooking. Quickly brown the veal on the floured side (about 90 seconds) then turn and cook on the un-floured side for 30 seconds more. Remove to a warm platter or baking sheet, and cover loosely with foil. Sauté the remaining veal using the same technique. Add a little more oil if necessary. 

Add the remaining tablespoon of butter to the pan and when melted add the diced onions and sauté for a minute or two, then add the mushrooms. Season with a little salt and pepper and stir to combine. Cook until the liquid from the mushrooms is mostly evaporated 3-5 minutes. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds.  
Add the white wine and de-glaze the pan (scraping up any brown bits stuck to the pan.) Add the chicken stock and cook until the liquid is reduced by about half.

(If making pasta as a side dish, add to a pot of boiling water now.)

Reduce the heat to medium and add the dried herbs (tarragon or basil) and the Dijon mustard and stir to combine, then stir in the cream. Cook stirring slowly until the sauce reaches a thickened sauce consistency (about 5-8 minutes). If it becomes too thick while waiting for pasta to finish cooking, thin with a little hot pasta water or hot tap water. Taste and add salt/pepper as necessary.

Plate the veal and top with the cream sauce.  If serving with pasta, add the pasta directly to the pan with the sauce and toss to combine. Garnish with dried parsley and a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese and serve.

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