Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes from the New York Times (26 page)

1.
Heat a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat for a couple of minutes. Add the oil, swirl it around, and pour out any excess. Add the veal and cook until nicely browned on the first side (for even browning, you can rotate the shanks, but try not to disturb them too much), about 5 minutes. Turn and brown the other side.

2.
When the second side is just about completely browned, sprinkle the shanks with a little salt and pepper and add the garlic and anchovies to the pan. Cook, stirring a little, until the anchovies dissolve and the garlic browns, about 2 minutes. Add the liquid and let it bubble away for about a minute.

3.
Turn the heat to low and cover the skillet. Five minutes later, check to see that the mixture is simmering—just a few bubbles appearing at once—and adjust the heat accordingly. Cook until the meat is very tender and pulling away from the bone, at least 1½ hours and probably somewhat more; turn the veal every half hour or so. (When the meat is tender, you may turn off the heat and refrigerate the dish for up to 24 hours; reheat gently before proceeding.)

4.
Transfer the meat to a warm platter and turn the heat to high. Boil the sauce until it becomes thick and glossy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the butter if you like and serve the meat with the sauce spooned over it.

MAKES 4 OR MORE SERVINGS

TIME: AT LEAST 1½ HOURS, LARGELY UNATTENDED

FEW SLOW-COOKED
foods are as rewarding as beef brisket, which at its best is tender, juicy, and flavorful. Doing it right takes so long—my favorite recipe is a twelve-hour job—that, at least in my house, a brisket is made only annually, or even less often than that. That’s why I regret that
I didn’t make my “discovery” of veal brisket sooner. It had just never occurred to me until recently that you could get a delicious, tender, relatively quick-cooking form of brisket by removing the bones from a breast of veal.

Unfortunately, boneless breast of veal—which can also be called
veal brisket
and, like brisket of beef, is the flap that covers the front part of a cow’s chest—is rarely sold that way. But any butcher (and, yes, this includes virtually every supermarket butcher) can quickly remove the bones from a veal breast and present you with a flat, boneless, relatively compact cut that contains little fat and becomes tender in less than two hours of unattended cooking.

Ask the butcher to start with a piece of breast that weighs four to six pounds. The yield is about half that, a piece of boneless meat of two or three pounds that will easily fit in a large skillet. (Consider asking the butcher for the bones, too—you’re paying for them, and they are among the best for stock making.)

1.
Reconstitute the mushrooms by covering them with very hot water. Turn the heat under a 12-inch skillet to medium-high and let the pan sit for a minute. Add the veal and brown it on both sides, turning once, for a total of about 6 minutes.

2.
Transfer the meat to a plate and turn the heat to medium. Add the mushrooms and about ½ cup of their liquid (strained, if necessary, to remove sediment) along with the wine. Bring to a boil and cook for about 30 seconds, then return the veal to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper, turn the heat to low, and cover.

3.
Cook for 1 to 1½ hours, turning once or twice during that period and checking now and then to make sure the liquid is bubbling slowly; adjust the heat accordingly.

4.
When the meat is tender, transfer it to a cutting board. Turn the heat under the liquid in the skillet to high and reduce it to a thick, saucy consistency. Stir in the butter if you like and keep it warm. Carve the meat against the grain into ¼-inch-thick slices and serve with the sauce.

VARIATIONS

Braised Veal Breast with Fresh Mushrooms

Though I find that cooking the veal breast with dried porcini or shiitake mushrooms yields the best results and deepest flavor, you can prepare the dish with fresh mushrooms: Start with at least ½ pound fresh mushrooms, button or other. Slice them, then cook them over medium-high heat in 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter, preferably with a couple of crushed peeled garlic cloves and a few fresh thyme sprigs, until tender, about 15 minutes. Proceed as directed, adding ½ cup water, wine, or stock in place of the mushroom-cooking liquid.

Veal Brisket with Bacon and Onion

One of my favorite variations takes its cue from a classic coq au vin. Start by rendering about ¼ pound cubed bacon, preferably cut from a slab, over medium heat, stirring, until crisp. Then remove the bacon pieces with a slotted spoon. Brown the veal in the fat as directed. Remove the veal and cook 1½ cups chopped onion (or about 15 pearl onions) in the fat over medium heat until nicely browned. Proceed as directed, beginning by adding the mushrooms and their liquid and using red wine in place of the white wine.

• For any of these renditions, consider stirring in up to 4 tablespoons (½ stick) of butter, a bit at a time, at the end of cooking to give the sauce a richness and suavity like you’d encounter in the best restaurants. (Trust me: that’s how they make everything taste so good.)

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 1 HOUR

THE CHARM OF
most braised dishes is that they result in succulent, tender meat and require little attention after an initial browning. The sad truth, however, is that most meats need hours—sometimes many hours—before they become truly tender. Not so with veal chunks taken from the shoulder or leg, which become tender in less than an hour and produce a superb stew.

And the smaller the chunks of meat, the shorter the cooking time. (This is a very basic and oft-ignored general principle of cooking: spend a little more time with the knife and you sometimes spend a lot less time at the stove.) Smaller chunks have another advantage as well: in just a few minutes, enough of their surface area browns that you can move to the next step of the recipe. This guarantees a full-flavored stew—the browning step is not essential but very desirable—and reduces stovetop mess.

1.
Put a 12-inch skillet over high heat and, a minute later, add the oil and butter. Add the meat in one layer (if you use the larger amount of meat, you may have to cook in batches to cook only in one layer; it’s worth the effort). Cook, undisturbed, until the meat is nicely browned on the bottom, about 5 minutes.

2.
Add the tarragon, onions, and some salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften and any bits of meat stuck to the bottom of the pan are released, about 5 minutes. Add the liquid (but don’t add too much liquid; the meat and onions generate plenty of their own as the covered meat simmers gently), stir, reduce the heat to low, and cover. Cook for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the veal is tender.

3.
Uncover, add the peas, and raise the heat to medium. Cook for about 5 minutes more, until the peas are done. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary and serve.

VARIATIONS

Veal Stew, Provençal Style

In step 1, use all olive oil. In step 2, omit the tarragon and onions, adding instead 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed; 20 fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped; 2 cups seeded and chopped tomato (canned is fine, lightly drained); and 1 cup good-quality black olives; omit the wine or water. Add the salt and pepper and cook as directed. In step 3, omit the peas; uncover and reduce the liquid if necessary until the stew is thick. Garnish with more chopped basil.

Veal Stew with Paprika

In step 1, use all butter (or grapeseed, corn, or other light oil). In step 2, omit the tarragon; add 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed, and 2 teaspoons good-quality paprika. Add salt, pepper, and liquid and cook as directed. In step 3, omit the peas and stir in 1 cup sour cream and more paprika if necessary.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 1 TO 1½ HOURS, LARGELY UNATTENDED

THE SMALLER THE
pieces you cut, the shorter the cooking time, but I wouldn’t make them too small or you’ll rob yourself of some of the satisfaction of eating them. This stew is also excellent made with lamb shoulder.

1.
Put the veal in a broad skillet over high heat; sear, undisturbed, for about 4 minutes, or until the underside is nicely browned (don’t worry if not all of the pieces brown). Stir, then add the shallots and potatoes. Cook for another couple of minutes, then add salt, pepper, and 1½ cups of water. Stir, scraping the bottom if necessary to loosen any bits of meat that may have stuck. Turn the heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring once or twice during that period.

2.
Uncover and add the carrots if you’re using them; stir once, recover, and simmer for about 15 minutes more, or until the veal and potatoes are tender.

3.
Uncover and add the peas and scallions if you like. Raise the heat if necessary to boil away excess liquid. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then serve, garnished with the dill and accompanied by a lemon wedge.

CRISP ROASTED RACK OF LAMB

BRAISED AND GRILLED LAMB SHANKS

BRAISED AND BROWNED LAMB WITH PEACHES

LAMB WITH PEPPERS AND YOGURT SAUCE

BONELESS LAMB SHOULDER ROAST

GRILLED BONELESS LEG OF LAMB

BREADED LAMB CUTLETS

CUMIN-RUBBED LAMB CHOPS WITH CUCUMBER SALAD

BROILED LAMB CHOPS WITH MINT CHUTNEY

GRILLED LAMB RIBS

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 30 MINUTES

RACK OF LAMB—
a row of unseparated rib chops—has been a restaurant feature for so long that many people assume there is some trick to cooking it. But there is not. You trim the rack of excess fat and roast it at high heat. Salt and pepper are good seasonings, there are a number of quick tricks for adding flavor to the exterior, and you can of course make a quick reduction sauce before serving. But these are options and by my standards unnecessary: the distinctive flavor of true lamb is an uncommonly fine treat.

Getting true lamb is part of the problem; the mild flavor of baby lamb has a more universal appeal than the gamier flavor of older meat. Be sure to tell the butcher you want a rack that weighs less than two pounds.

Because many restaurants offer a whole rack as a serving (six to eight ribs!), many people believe that to be a standard serving size. But there are almost no circumstances where even a small rack will not serve two people; a larger rack can accommodate three and sometimes four. To serve more, just cook two racks at a time; they will fit comfortably side by side in most roasting pans. I like to cut each rack in half before roasting. This makes for slightly more uniform cooking and also relieves you from separating each rack into individual ribs before serving.

The roasting itself is child’s play. Your oven should be hot (it should also be well insulated, because high heat produces smoke). Cut the rack most of the way down between the ribs so that more meat is exposed to intense heat and therefore becomes crisp. (“Frenching” the ribs—scraping the meat off the bones to leave them naked and neater in appearance—is counterproductive; the crisp meat on the bones is one of the joys of rack of lamb.) Unless you’re highly experienced, the most reliable method of judging doneness is with an instant-read thermometer; 125°F in the center will give you medium-rare meat.