Technically, this dish is Costolette al Marsala because we're using cutlets rather than scaloppine. But the technique we're using is for piccata, so we'll fudge the difference and call it Veal Piccata. Piccata is another relatively simple dish one can spend a long while perfecting. The challenge is in using flour and not letting it become gelatinous.
Here's what you need:
Veal cutlets
Salt and pepper
Lemon
Flour
Butter
Marsala
I served it with some shitake mushrooms and haricots verts with shallots and slivered almonds.
Ask your butcher for some very thin veal cutlets. Then, when you get home, pound them even thinner. To do so, wrap each cutlet in wax paper and pound it with an empty wine bottle. Why an empty wine bottle you ask? So you are careful not to break either the bottle nor the meat. Season the cutlets with salt, pepper, and lemon juice and dust them lightly with flour. Then start work on the other parts of the meal. You'll see why soon.
Just flattened and ready to season.
Par-boil your haricots vert. Bring a pan of water to a boil, drop in the beans. When they change color to a bright green, pull them out and douse them in ice water to stop the cooking. Dry and set aside, nearby. Finely chop a shallot and thin slice (or use already sliced) almonds. Add these to a pan with some olive oil and maybe a little minced garlic. Let these cook until the shallots are translucent and the almonds are browning on the edges. Add the beans, cover and turn off the heat. The beans will come to the proper temperature and be ready to serve in a few minutes.
Almonds, shallots, and garlic almost ready for the beans.
While the almonds and shallots are cooking, put some butter in a pan and melt it. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper them to taste, let them cook slowly -- about eight to ten minutes is sufficient -- cover and keep warm.
Once these tasks are completed you can start the veal. Put a good sized pat of butter in the pan, enough that when it melts it will cover the entire pan, over medium heat. Add the cutlets and brown them on both sides -- this will happen quickly. Add a 1/4 cup or so of Marsala, let it bubble and dislodge any brown bits, mix it with the remaining butter. Then add about half that amount of chicken stock and stir these to form a nice pan sauce. When heated through, serve the cutlets with the sauce.
This all happens quite quickly, so I didn't have a chance to take any photos of the process. Here's the end result.
Served with a very nice Rossola.
