Veal Breast

[stanley fatmax]

I bought a veal breast at the supermarket the other day and I decided to try making braciole. I have a couple of questions, though, if anyone can help. First, is there any special technique for removing the bone or do I just hack it out? Second, should I butterfly the meat, or just pound it as is? Finally, does anyone have thoughts as to whether I should finish it on the stove in a sauce or in the oven? I would appreciate any thoughts any of you have on this. Thanks,

Stanley Fatmax

[MarkV]

God, I haven't de-boned a veal breast since cooking school. As I recall, and please, if other members would double-check me, there is no "special" technique. Basically, with a very sharp boning knife, you follow the contour of the bones in such a way that you can remove them with as little mangling of the flesh as possible. Not terribly different from de-boning a chicken.

Whether to butterfly it or not would depend on it's starting thickness. Beyond an inch in thickness and I would lean toward butterflying first. If you try pounding a piece that's too thick, you can damage it too much by the time it reaches the target thickness.

You can finish it in the oven or on top of the stove in the sauce. I prefer the oven for more even and gentle heating. 350 degrees should do.

Mark

[Suzanne]

I agree with MarkV about removing the layer of meat from the bones -- just slide a knife in along the top of the curve. You'll still have to trim off quite a bit of fat, though.

And if by "braciole" you mean you want to stuff and roll it, butterflying is the way to go. When I've tried, the thick end of the meat can be close to 2 inches and needs to be cut down. You might start a ways in from the thin end, though -- otherwise it will be rather difficult to butterfly that end evenly, as it can be VERY thin.

The only place I diverge from Mark is on temperature: I think even lower, no more than 325, is better. For all its fat, the breast has a lot of integument and can be a bit tough, so lower and longer is how I like to cook it. Especially if it's NOT in a sauce.

[Mezzaluna]

I agree with Suzanne. My mom concocted a veal breast recipe we used to make (although it was on the bone). She made a stuffing of chopped white cabbage, mushrooms, garlic and a little stale bread, with chicken broth to moisten and some seasonings (sage, salt, pepper). She sauteed the vegetables, then added the bread and broth. The breast was roasted at 325 for about an hour until it was browned, then broth was added to the pan and it was covered tightly with foil. This isn't fast food, but man, it's good!

[stanley fatmax]

Thanks for your help everyone, although I have to report that it didn't go very well. The bones came off the meat really easy, and the breast wasn't too mangled. However, I soon realized that the piece of meat was actually two muscles stacked like pancakes. I eventually separated them, but they were smaller than I expected, and not particularly good for rolling. I removed quite a bit of fat, but I must have missed a lot too, because the end result was way too fatty. The meat itself turned out pretty well, though, I just was constantly pulling chunks of gristle and fat out of my mouth. All in all it was sort of disappointing.