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Veal breast recipe needed

I bought a veal breast because it was on sale but don't know how to make it. I have done a few searches for recipes but all of them are variations of a stuffed veal breast. I'm not particularly interested in stuffing the veal breast so was hoping for a different type of recipe.

Also, my veal breast is in the freezer so I don't know if it has bones in it. It is about 3 lbs, I think it is the tip and seems to have a layer of fat on it. How do I prepare? HELP.

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  1. Something tells me you'll be best off braising it. I seem to recall that veal breast is not particularly tender. There's a recipe for Breast of Veal Braised with Garlic, Parsley & Lemon in Molly Stevens' "All About Braising" cookbook.

    2 Replies
    1. re: CindyJ

      Thanks CindyJ, Can you please paraphrase the recipe? Unfortunately I do not have that cookbook but it sounds great - I love that combination of flavors.

      1. re: brooklynmasala

        It's a really wonderful book. You might even be able to get it at your local library.

        The recipe says to brown the meat all over in EVOO in a skillet then remove the veal from the pan and let it cool. Next make a paste from 8 garlic cloves and some salt. To the paste add 1/4 cup of chopped parsley, grated zest of one lemon and some ground pepper. Smear the paste all over the cooled veal. Place the meat in a Dutch oven that's sized to hold it snugly and add to the pot any juices from the plate the veal was on.

        Take the skillet used for browning and over high heat, add a cup of dry white wine and deglaze the pan. Reduce the liquid by half. Add a cup of either veal or chicken stock and boil for a couple of minutes. Add the liquid to the pot with the veal, but pour it around the meat so as not to remove the garlic paste. Cover the meat with parchment paper so that the paper is just above the meat (not touching) and the ends of the paper extend over the sides of the Dutch oven. Put the lid over the paper. Put the Dutch oven into a preheated 300 degree oven. Braise for 30 minutes, checking after 15 minutes to be sure the liquid is simmering gently. Adjust the oven temperature, if necessary. After 30 minutes, turn the veal over with tongs. Braise 2 hours longer, then carefully turn again. Uncover the pot and continue braising for 30 minutes more, uncovered, so the top of the meat carmelizes and the meat is very tender. If the pot looks too dry, add a little water.

        Remove the meat from the pot and let it cool for about a half hour. Tug on the bones to slide them out. Remove some of the grease from the pan juices. Season with salt & pepper as necessary. Cut the meat into "rustic hunks", place the meat into a baking dish, pour the juices over the meat, and heat in a 325 degree oven until warm (15-25 minutes).

    2. If it's 3 pounds, I'm guessing you have the (boneless) brisket. Definitely a cut best suited to slow wet heat. Maybe a daube? Or a blanquette de veau? Any braise will work.

      1. Braising is just about your only method of cooking this cut. I would suggest rethinking the stuffing method. You don't have to think of it like a stuffed turkey, it can be stuffed with anything. Search for a Mario Batali braised veal breast recipe. You can stuff it with sauteed kale and cheese or something else simple like that. Get yourself some kitchen string and off you go!

        1 Reply
        1. re: HaagenDazs

          Funny HaagenDazs. I remember my grandmother making a stuffed veal breast, the stuffing was wet as opposed to a dry turkey stuffing, and I hated it as a youngster, I wouldn't touch it. Panzetta (sp?) she called it.

          I imagine I would be happy to have her serve it to me now.

        2. The only way worth cooking this is stuffed, because without the bones it is a skinny cut of meat and not too interesting. Remove the bones, if any, and cut a pocket lengthwise pocket and stuff with any one of a thousand things -- I like to use spinach, cheese, breadcrumbs, and spices. Sew closed the opening and braise with a can of stock in a slow cooker or in a slow oven (300-325) for several hours until a fork pierces it easily. Slices look and taste fabulous, also good cold as leftovers. I never bother with browning it first.

          3 Replies
          1. re: City Kid

            Brown = flavor. As Batali says the difference between good home cooking and great home cooking/restaurant cooking is that in the latter, the cook/chef allows the meat to brown.

            1. re: HaagenDazs

              With all due respect, I've tried it both ways and for braising I have not noted an appreciable difference.

              1. re: City Kid

                Maybe I should have been more specific: dark brown. Maybe you don't notice a difference, but just about everyone else does. If you brown it well and I mean BROWN, not just a light golden tinge, I'm talking let the meat sit there for 8-10 minutes brown. There is a difference I can assure you. Give it a try next time for whatever you happen to be braising.

                If you want to compare it to something else, think of French onion soup. To make a good soup you don't just throw raw onions in a pot and cook the soup, you spend time, LOTS of time allowing the onions to brown (caramelize).

                Browning of ingredients is a key step in lots of cooking. If it wasn't we would all be trading in our grills, broilers, and saute pans for microwaves. ...And not to put Mario Batali on too high a pedestal, but if he was wrong why would so many people be listening to him? ...And if it didn't make any difference why would all braising recipes worth a damn include browning as part of the process?

          2. My grandmother, who was from Romania, made a breast of veal stuffed with very thin noodles, which she called luxon (pronounced luckshun). She would sew the veal breast up after stuffing it. I have looked for the recipe, but have never seen one similar. I do know that she breaised the veal, and slow cooked it for hours, usually with some vegetables in the pot.