Veal casserole late summer style

Naturally weight issues are not far away when food and wine is a passion and something we even attempt to blog about. For us this means that certain things are, as a rule, avoided – but of course we can always decide that exceptions need to be made. If we intensify exercising a little we can normally lose weight. One of the main things we try to do is to substitute potatoes, rice and pasta with whole grain varietals/products.
To the kids, this is apparently close to torture.
Tonight we make a casserole of veal and we plan to have some whole grain bread from Il Fornaio on the side and a green salad. M is unhappy. In the end we have compassion for the poor boy and decide to boil some rice for him.


The veal casserole is made with tomatoes, garlic, mushrooms and chanterelles.
The Veal is cut into good size cubes 3-4 cm and browned in olive oil in a large pan along with 4 cloves of garlic, one red onion, salt and pepper.
600 gr of small, sweet tomatoes (san marsano or cocktail tomatoes). Squeezed free of seeds (which for a greater part end up on the wall and on K’s t-shirt – again).
A couple of handfuls of herbs.
1 generous glass of white wine is added and allowed to boil down.
1 glass of stock (or cube) and a heavy lid on top. Let simmer for 20-30 min.
In another pan the mushrooms and chanterelles are prepared in olive oil, with a bit of garlic and lemon zest.
The mushrooms/chanterelles is added to the meat for the last 5-10 min.

The bread is rubbed with garlic and a few drops of olive oil. The veal tastes deliciously on top.
In the end M decides that the bread is quite ok and not as bland as he had expected.
We have a bottle of Cascina Morassino 2005 Barbaresco. It was decanted as it has been very closed on earlier occasions. This time it is perfect and worked well with the dish – 8/10

A quick Monday feast

Golf season is on and T will more and more often arrive home late. But, it is also pollen season and so K is under the weather (or pollen, as it is). We have almost negotiated the terms for a late Thai take-away when T passes Irma and discovers that opening hours have changed and it is now open until 8 PM and so T stops and takes a look. He finds some nice looking veal, but alas there is no sage. Despite the fact that we are cutting down on calories at the moment T persuades K to make veal the Milanese way. And so it is, Scaloppine Milanese.
There is still a long ride into Copenhagen from Elsinore and so we are glad to have a dish that will not take long to prepare:

The veal is soaked in one beaten egg and afterwards turned in bread crumbs seasoned with salt and pepper. They are then fried in a heated pan with melted butter and olive oil app. 3-4 minutes on each side. And now, the key to this dish: grated horse radish, anchovy, lemon slices and some capers.
For contorni we have some white aspergus boiled for a few minutes after being peeled. Also, a green salad with tomatoes, radishes and red onions for more crunch and crispness.
For the sake of good order we also have to toast a few small slices of bread, rubbed with a slice of garlic and just a sprinkle of olive oil.
In the end, it comes off as a feast and we are very happy with the result, 8/10. T was all the way into Copenhagen thinking of Nebbiolo, so we have a 2007 Barbaresco from Marchesi di Barolo (8/10) and it worked out very well together (8,5/10)

A Monday Celebration

Today calls for a small celebration despite it being Monday. We often find something to celebrate. Even though it's going to be late, T sets out to make Osso Buco Milanese and Risotto allo Zafferano. The soffreto is of the known kind:
2 chopped (red) onions
2 chopped celery stalks
2 chopped carrots
3 chopped cloves of garlic
and then some fresh herbs: thyme, rosemary and sage.

The meat is browned first and the soffreto is fried in the left over. Afterwards a small can of concentrated tomato paste is fried with the soffreto and then the meat is added along with a bottle of various wine left-overs. Add ½ liter of beef stock and then let it simmer for 3 hours. A trick that K has learned from Jamie Oliver (well, not personally) is to make a lid of baking paper and after draining it in water to put that over the dish while it simmers. The advantage of this approach is that it keeps the steam with the meat and you therefore don't need to turn and drip to keep it moist and juicy. T is a quick learner so he has adopted this as well. On top of this we add 3 de-seeded chopped tomatoes.

When K arrives she helps with the finishing touches, i.e. grating the parmesan for the risotto and skim off some of the fat and, of course, to arrange the dishes. Never send a man to do a woman's job.

In the meantime we make the risotto. Take a small sauce pan. Heat some butter and fry one finely chopped shallot. Add rice (on this occasion, Aborio) and let them fry until they become transparent (should be 2-3 minutes), but not burned. Pour a glass of dry white wine in and also some saffron (what can be held between thumb and index finger). Stir regularly and then add ½ liter of  chicken stock in small amounts. This should take about 25 minutes, but you should start tasting in the last 5 minutes to make sure that the rice is al dente. With regards to texture: We prefer it a little runny (and so should you). This means that a little extra stock may be required (or just some water). When ready add a handful of grated parmesan and remember that this will actually make the texture less runny so take that into account when you determine "the runniness" before you add the parmesan.

The finishing touch, which is of big importance, is the Gremolata. Chop parsley, a couple of cloves of garlic and some lemon zest together and sprinkle on top.

The result today is marvelous. It is a favorite dish of T in particular and this was an especially successful version and therefore it gets a 9/10. With it we selected a Barbaresco Albesani 2006 from Franco Rocca which was decanted and chilled on the porch to 16 degrees. It was wonderful, 8,3/10 and the combination was even better 9,3/10

Pasta with truffles and cream

Sunday M gets to choose the menu. And pasta with truffles and cream it is. In Super Marco T bought a glass of truffle butter made with summer truffles. Excellent if your pig cannot find truffles. Or you don't have a pig ... or truffles.

Anyway – for 4 – cut 1/2 kg of beef fillet in squares.
Soften 2 small shallots and 2 cloves of garlic in olive oil. Roast the meat. Mix. Pour in a small glass of white wine. cook down. Add 1/4 l of cream. S/P.
Mix with pasta (fusili Today) and truffle butter.
7,5/10
Serve with a mixed green salad.

With this we had a bottle of Barbaresco Currá 2006 from Roberto Sarotto 8/10 and together 8,3/10.

The wine we bought in Barbaresco on one of the most beautiful days of our trip in the fall of 2010. An old church on the centre square now holds an enoteca with bottles of many of the local producers.
We sat outside in the sun one late october afternoon with a glass of this splendid wine ... such a good memory.

Certainly worth a visit!