Sunday, May 4, 2008

bring on the sunshine

Okay, so the Habs are now on some Montreal golf course taking advantage of the beautiful weather instead of playing playoff hockey. And my Flames have been perfecting their swing for weeks now. The beautiful thing about being eliminated, though, is the hope that next year will bring more success. Dina and I have much more on our minds than hockey and golf for this quickly approaching summer. The prospect of sitting on a newly constructed deck in our own backyard, sipping wine and dining outdoors is fresh in our minds. Until the deck is ready and the temperature warms up, we decided to bring a little sunshine into our home courtesy of some veal piccata.

I started getting my biceps in shape for the summer by pounding out the veal cutlets until they were 1/4 inch thick while Dina prepared the lemon-wine based sauce.

Veal Piccata

4 veal cutlets, pounded until 1/4 in. thick
2 tbsp flour, for dredging
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp butter
3/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 tsp capers
1/4 cup parsley leaves, chopped
Lemon slices and parsley sprigs, for garnish
Salt & pepper to taste

Season the veal with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Pat off excess flour. In a large frying pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute veal cutlets for 2 minutes per side and remove to plate (do not overcook, as veal will become tough). Add garlic to pan and saute for 1 minute. Add wine, lemon juice, and capers and bring to boil; cook until reduced by half. Return to a simmer and stir in butter and parsley until butter has melted and is incorporated into sauce. Return veal cutlets to pan and coat with sauce. Transfer to serving plate and garnish with lemon slices and parsley sprigs.

The result: tender, juicy veal cutlets, swimming in a savory, lemony sauce with bites of capers throughout. Insanely delicious and better than dining out on a $20+ meal.

This will do just fine until BBQ weather decides to make an appearance.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

mmmm.....looks so juicy and delicious....I never made this dish , worth trying.

Annie Ruok said...

yummy, yum, yum! U r right, Italian restaurants charge a fortune (up to $30 sometimes) for 3 very small veal medallions prepared this way, doing it at home allows u 2 eat as much as you want in comfort!

Anonymous said...

I second that! I want summer to be here already. Nice dish.

dp said...

this dish looks like the real deal! Now if only I can find monk fish here.

BTW, I read your posts about your trip to Portugal. You really captured the beauty of living the simple life, eating local, etc. We recently spent 2 weeks on the Italian coast and felt the same way. Fresh fish, local produce...it was wonderful to be able to experience it with our own hands. We prefer this type of slower-paced vacation. Maybe Portugal will be our next destination.