Weeknight Meals as a Weather Indicator

As I was organizing my picture directories, I have noticed that most of my main meals pretty much reflect the weather on that particular day: lousy days are great for comfort food and sunny days for nice light food. It is not difficult to match the photos of my food with weather.

 

Liver and Mushrooms with Egg Pasta

The caramelized mushrooms and onions almost completely cover the liver taste that so many people dislike. This is wonderful and tasty meal for any kind of weather. Recipe is the same as Calf Liver with Mushrooms & Spaetzle except I was using egg noodles instead of spaetzle.

Veal Stew à la Osso Buco

Perfect food for cloudy, rainy weather. Since I have used slow cooker for this stew it was no-work after initial browning of the veal. Can be done in big batches since it freezes so well. It is cooked just like Osso Buco Chops.

 

Salmon Sashimi with Cucumber Salad and Gari.

Yes, it was beautiful, sunny day when I prepared this simple and quick meal. All you need is super fresh salmon.

Fresh Wine Sausage and Potato Salad

Traditional Czech Christmas and Easter Meal

Fresh wine sausage actually falls into two categories on my blog: Charcutepalooza and Christmas. Traditionally, this sausage was served before or after Christmas or Easter and was always accompanied by potato salad and mustard and sometimes with freshly grated horseradish. It is a fairly light sausage, as far as sausages go, and is pleasantly tangy with lemon peel and white wine. In some regions of Northern Bohemia it was made with a mix of pork and veal while in other regions pork was the only meat used. I made lean version using 2 parts veal and 1 part pork. As is the case with any fresh or cured sausage one tool that really makes it easy, and I do consider it indispensable, is stand mixer with paddle. Of course, you can use bowl and stiff wooden spoon like our grand-parents, but it is a lot of work to beat the meat and spice mixture into a sticky forcemeat while adding wine at the same time. Even though I have not tried it since I have 8 quart Blakeslee stand mixer, I guess that you could use a food processor fitted with a dough blade to do the mixing. The wine has to be completely absorbed by the meat. Since I got my new vertical sausage stuffer I am definitely on a sausage kick but this sausage, just like any fresh sausage, can be formed into patties or short round sausages, dredged in flour and cooked in a frying pan or baked/roasted in the oven. For such a delicious sausage there are very few ingredients. One ingredient that has to be measured carefully is salt. Always weigh the salt, do not go by table spoon or tea spoon measurements, not all kosher salts (and always use kosher salt) are created equal. I did some tests and one cup of one brand differed from another brand by as much as 30% in weight, and that is a lot of difference! Generally, for sausages the ratio of meat to salt is 10 grams of salt for every 450 grams (1 pound) of meat. Another ingredient that is absolutely critical in this sausage is lemon zest. It is better to use rather more than less, after all it is the lemon zest that gives this sausage such a refreshing taste. One more thing. I never buy ground meat, ever. I have to know what is in my meat and when you buy store bought ground meat it is anybody’s guess as to what kind of crap is in it. Just check number of recalls of ground meat products due to e-coli contamination and other problems. To me it is worth the extra effort to grind my own meat. 

Ingredients

1 lb. veal shoulder

1/2 pork but

1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

15 grams Kosher salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground white pepper

Lemon zest from 1 lemon

White wine, about 1/2 cup

Sheep casings and skewers (if used)

Flour for coating

Oil for shallow frying

 Remove all sinew from veal and pork. Mix salt, pepper, nutmeg and lemon zest in small bowl. Cut the meat into 1” cubes and rub the spice mixture into the meat. Place in re-sealable bag, flatten the bag while removing as much air as possible and refrigerate overnight.

Next day place the bag with meat in the freezer for half an hour or until the meat starts to get hard. When thin crust develops on the surface of the meat, grind it using die plate with 1/4” or 3/8” holes. Place the ground meat in stand mixer bowl fitted with paddle or food processor with steel dough blade (I think that plastic dough blade would brake), turn the machine on and start adding the chilled wine. Stop when grind starts to look sticky and develops little shine. Meat is now ready for stuffing into sheep casings forming coils that will fit frying pan or formed into patties or sausages. Place bamboo skewer from one end of the sausage coil, through the centre where the other end is and out opposite side. The skewer will hold the coil together and makes it much easier to handle. To cook the sausage, preheat frying pan with about 1/4” of vegetable oil, coat or dust the sausage or patties with flour to give it nice crust and fry till it is golden brown, 3–5 minutes. Turn sausage over and cook another 3-5 minutes. Serve with mustard and Potato Salad.

Veal Schnitzel and Rice

This is a classical version. I usually use pork tenderloin but since I bought some nice veal at local farmers market I just couldn’t resist and since we didn’t have a rice with schnitzel for a while it was a side dish of choice. And, of course, wedge of lemon and some pickles balanced the meal perfectly.

Veal Shoulder Chops – Osso Buco Style

It has been such a long time since we had Osso Buco, meal that we both love. Reason is simple. We just can’t get 3” thick veal shanks here. Acceptable solution for us is to use thick veal shoulder chop instead. Of course the favorite part of Osso Buco is the marrow, a part that we will have to do without but taste should be similar.

Ingredients:

1/2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds bone-in veal shoulder chops

Salt and pepper

2 medium carrots, chopped

2 medium stalks celery, thinly sliced

1 medium onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 cup canned whole tomatoes in juice

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup chicken broth

1 bay leaf

1 Tbs. lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon peel plus additional for garnish

Gremolata:

1 Tbs. grated lemon peel

1 tsp. finely chopped garlic

3 Tbs. finely chopped parsley

Mix till well combined.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In wide-bottom Dutch oven, heat oil on medium-high until very hot. Sprinkle veal chops with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper to season both sides. Add veal chops to Dutch oven and cook 8 to 9 minutes per batch or until veal is browned on both sides, turning over once. Transfer veal to plate once it is browned.

After all veal is browned, add carrots, celery, onions, and garlic to Dutch oven, and cook on medium 12 minutes or until vegetables are lightly browned and tender, stirring occasionally.

Return veal, and any juices from plate, to Dutch oven. Stir in tomatoes with their juice, wine, broth, and bay leaf. Heat mixture to boiling on high, stirring and breaking up tomatoes with side of spoon.

Cover Dutch oven and place in oven. Braise 2 hours or until veal is very tender when pierced with fork. Transfer veal to platter. Skim off fat from liquid in Dutch oven.

Place Dutch oven on burner on top of range, and cook sauce on medium-high about 10 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Add lemon peel and lemon juice and cook 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook noodles till al dente and keep warm.

To serve, pour little sauce on bottom of preheated plates, then noodles, more sauce and then meat. Spoon sauce over veal and place tablespoon of gremolata on top for garnish.

Marsala Veal with Cremini and Oyster Mushrooms

This must be one of the easiest veal dishes I’ve done in a while. Once first two steps are done it is just let it be and leave it alone. Being a braise it is also almost impossible to photograph well. Pictures you see in food magazines are staged with almost raw ingredients whereas I take a shot and then eat the “prop” before it gets cold.

I have to admit that I have improvised a bit as the food was cooking and I will include all steps. By the way, my better half has pronounced it as the best veal she has ever had and I have cooked a few in the last 35 years or so.

I cook for two so all my recipes reflect that in ingredients amounts.

Ingredients:

Veal shoulder blade chop

1 Tbs. olive oil

1/2 onion

Sprig of fresh rosemary or 1 tsp. of dried

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 cup dry Marsala

Chicken stock (to add during braise)

2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms

1 cup oyster mushrooms

1 small carrot, sliced

1 stalk celery, sliced

1 Tbs. cold butter

Salt, pepper

Parsley, chopped

Process:

Coat veal chop in flour and shake off excess.

Heat a heavy bottomed pan large enough to accommodate veal chop on medium high and add olive oil. Place chop in and sear without moving for about 4 – 5 minutes. When golden skin forms turn over and cook another 5 minutes. Remove to plate and cover with foil.

Lower heat and add onions and cook till translucent.

Off the heat pour in Marsala and deglaze all bits stuck to bottom of pan, add rosemary and pepper and return to heat. Reduce Marsala by half.

Return veal to pan with all accumulated juices and add cremini. Make sure that veal is half submerged in liquid at all times. If not, add chicken stock. At this point the meat is not salted.

Meanwhile boil potatoes or noodles for side dish.

Reduce heat to low so that liquids just barely simmer, cover and braise for 1-1/2 hours. Check for liquid level every 20 minutes or so.

Turn chop over and add carrots, celery and oyster mushrooms and salt to taste. Cover and braise another half hour.

Remove chop to plate, debone, cut into serving pieces and keep warm.

To finish, reduce sauce and stir in cold butter cut into 1” pieces.

Serve the veal with sauce on top and with side dish of your choice.

Veal Ragout with Mushrooms and Noodles

This is one of my favorite dishes since my childhood in Czech Republic and it is a regional specialty. Just like so many ragouts and stews it is better next day after all flavors have combined. This is my slow cooking, no-worry version.

To serve 4

2 Lb. veal shoulder chops, deboned and cut into 1” cubes

3 cups sliced Cremini or Button mushrooms

1 onion, chopped

3 T. butter

2 T. flour

½ cup veal or chicken stock – mushrooms will release lot of liquid

Salt

Pepper

Preheat oven to 220 °C.

Sprinkle the veal with salt and pepper. Melt butter in dutch oven over medium heat and when the foam subsides, add onions and cook until translucent, 6 – 8 minutes. Stir in the veal cubes till meat changes color, sprinkle with caraway seeds and flour and stir to coat meat evenly. Cover tightly and cook over very low heat for 10 minutes, shaking the pan now and then to prevent sticking.

Stir in stock, add mushrooms and stir till well mixed. Bring to simmer and place on middle rack in preheated oven and braise for 2 hours. This allows for the collagen of the connective tissues to melt into gelatin, while keeping the drying up of the muscle fibers at a minimum. After 2 hours raise temperature to 275°C for another hour. After 3 hours in the oven start checking for doneness  (sharp tip of a knife should go in without resistance). At this time you can start boiling water for noodles.

When meat is done, remove from oven and let rest so that meat will reabsorb some of the juices. Boil noodles, drain, toss in butter and keep warm.

Of course, this ragout can be cooked on a stove top at very low heat but it will have to be stirred every 15 – 20 minutes for 3 hours.

All done! Serve with buttered wide noodles. 

Stir in the veal cubes till meat changes color, sprinkle with caraway seeds and flour and stir to coat meat evenly.

Stir in stock, add mushrooms and stir till well mixed.

3 hours plus later...

All done.

 Note: It is very difficult to photograph and plate stew, any stew. It is not a pretty meal regardless of how great it tastes. I did my best with my $150 Canon point-and-shoot camera. Also, for garnish I used parsley from my garden. I am sad to say that they were the last leaves left. I still have plenty of arugula but no parsley.

Arugula in cold frame.