Tuesday, February 9, 2010

February 9th - Broiled Veal Chops with Mustard Sage Butter


Snow Anyone?
Second day back in Chicago and already having flashbacks of my time in Philadelphia.  Although 10 inches is much more manageable than 28". (tee hee...) 

The Most Entertaining Folk
Why is the library full of so many ...ahem... interesting people?  I could sit there for hours and people-watch.  The mean librarian giving dirty looks to everyone, the unsupervised child who accidently runs full force into the wall, the elderly man with the puzzled look on his face as he reads the back cover to the movie "Superbad", and the gamer guy who I think lives at the library.

Sometimes I can get pretty nosey.  Brian calls me "Mrs. Kravitz" (a character from Bewitched for all you young folk).  I don't know what it is, but people just fascinate me.  Their motivations, their backgrounds, the way they dress and talk.  To me, everyone is just a character sketch away from being on a television show. 

So here I am at the library, yesterday, to pick up stuff that came in over the weekend.  (I really am addicted to the library now.  No...still not reading, but borrowing tons of books on CD.)  I happen to be checking out when I over hear an argument between a library patron and the librarian.  Apparently this lady checked out a DVD (some TV show...I don't know which one) and it was skipping.  She wanted to let the librarian know: 1. that it was skipping and 2. she got it that way.   I don't know what bug got up the librarian's butt, but she starts laying into the woman telling her she shouldn't have tried to clean the DVD because she could have made the problem worse. (Seriously?  I don't think the lady tried cleaning the DVD with broken glass, librarian lady. )  So then the lady is trying to be all patient with the librarian telling her "You know, I didn't have to tell you this.  I could have just returned the DVD and not bring it to your attention."  The response from the librarian "I wish you would have".  HA!...Oh library, you're ever so much fun.

THE RECIPE

Ingredients:

Sage:  Had
Garlic: $0.88
Veal:  $3.49
Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil: Had
Butter: Had
Dijon: Had

Total $4.37

Surprisingly my sage that I bought almost 2 weeks ago, is still fresh.  Go figure.  I also have Rosemary in there that is still good.  It surprises me because either everything in the fridge freezes or goes bad quickly.  Could it have found a happy medium?

As far as the veal goes, I went with a shoulder chop instead of the loin chop.  It was a difference between $3.49 and $10.99.  I love me some baby cow, but not that much.  Plus, veal is pretty tender in general, so you can save yourself some extra $$ by purchasing a cheaper cut.

THE RESULTS

Fast:  Yes and No.  The prep takes no time at all.  Microwave the butter to soften it instead of waiting for it to come to room temp.  The meat has to sit out for at least 30 minutes to develop some flavor.  (Plus, it's better to grill or broil red meat when it's at room temperature.)  Cooking time took me 12 minutes.  I did a high broiler and did about 6 minutes on each side.  And don't forget to let the meat rest covered in foil to let the juices redistribute (about another 5 minutes).

Easy:  A snap. 

Fresh:  Yes.  The fresh sage definitely adds a great flavor to the meat as well as the dijon butter.  I wouldn't recommend dried sage.  It will have a totally different flavor.

Overall:  I like it.  For a quick way to prepare red meat, it's good.  I could see doing this for steaks on the grill (chicken...not so much) especially in the summer.   Except for the sage, it's pretty much stuff you should have in your house.  You could experiment too with different types of mustard and different types of herbs.

Okay..looks like I'll be stuck in the house today, so I should get some stuff done for school.  (I'll be teaching an International Cuisine class next quarter.  I'm excited.  It's one of my favorites).  Ciao for now.

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