Veal Marsala

Okay, I'm back from San Diego and trying to get back into the swing of things. We got home Thursday, but the weekend was spent celebrating my grandma's 90th birthday. Needless to say, things have been pretty darn crazy the past few days. Now this week I'm going to try and get everything back to normal and on a regular schedule. Figured I'd get up before everyone else and get a jump on the day. So far I've sat at the computer...there's a ridiculously large pile of laundry waiting for me downstairs that I'm trying to avoid.

Anyway, we had this one night for dinner before I left for CA. We waited and ate after the boy was in bed because frankly two year olds don't need to eat veal (although when he was a baby I saw Gerber veal baby food...seemed a bit ridiculous). I know veal is super controversial, but it's just so darn good. My brother has a theory that it's so good because it's so wrong to eat it. I have to agree. I try to just savor the deliciousness when I eat it and not think about where it came from.

I had found veal cutlets for super cheap and had them in the freezer. I checked allrecipes.com for a veal marsala recipe. I'd only ever made veal once or twice before, so it wasn't anything I wanted to wing. There were a few recipes I found but one especially seemed super easy. I modified it a bit, but I'll add that at the end.

Veal Marsala
1 1/2 pounds veal scallops, pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup all-purpose flour for coating
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup dry Marsala wine
1/2 cup chicken stock, divided
2 tablespoons butter, softened

Season veal with salt and pepper to taste; dredge in flour to coat. Shake off excess flour. Melt 2 tablespoons butter and olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. When foam subsides, add veal 3 to 4 pieces at a time and saute for 2 to 3 minutes each side, until browned. Transfer meat to a plate.

Pour most of the fat off from the skillet; add wine and 1/4 cup of the stock and bring to a boil over high heat for 1 or 2 minutes, scraping the bottom and sides of the skillet.

Return meat to skillet; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, basting meat with pan juices occasionally. Transfer meat to a platter.

Add remaining 1/4 cup stock to skillet and bring to a boil, scraping bottom and sides of skillet. When sauce has reduces to a thick, syrupy consistency, remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in 2 tablespoons softened butter and pour sauce over meat.

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I like mushrooms with my marsala, so I added in a package of sliced mushrooms after the meat was done and before the 1/4 cup stock at the end. I let them saute a bit before adding in the stock. I think I ended up adding in a bit more marsala and stock because the mushrooms took some of the sauce. I honestly don't remember...pregnancy brain is hitting me hard this time.

It turned out really yummy. I had three veal cutlets to make, and the husband ate two of them. I was going to get all fancy and make roasted garlic mashed potatoes to go with it, but I was lazy and we just had baked potatoes instead.

I have no idea what else we had for dinner that week, so I guess this is the only catch-up recipe I'll post. I did a ham in the crockpot, but it was pretty uneventful. The ham was good, but the way I did it wasn't anything special.