Veal cutlets with lemon
Veal is a very tender and lean kind of meat. Please make sure you are buying meat from a calve that has been able to drink mother’s milk and walk around and not from an industrial ‘crate’ veal.
This practice is luckily no longer tolerated in the European Union, but there remains a big difference between a milk-fed or formula-fed calf, or a free-raised calf. In France there are some labelled kinds of veal, and there are five quality classes
In French cuisine, the veal cutlets are often presented with a sauce, such as the Marengo sauce (fond brun, wine) or Normandy style with cream and apples.
In Germany, Switzerland and Austria, the cutlets are passed though flower and egg for a coating and then fried at high heat into schnitzels.
In Italy there is a recipe for cutlets — escalopini — with lemon and capers. This is a variation.
The cooking time is very short and the meat cools off quickly so prepare it shortly before serving.
Ingredients
- Two veal cutlets
- Two lemons
- butter
- olive oil
- pepper
Steps
- Flatten the cutlets slightly with a dough roller (do not pound the meat as this will break its structure).
- Squeeze one lemon for its juice.
- Slice the other lemon in parts.
- Heat some butter and oil in a skillet.
- When sizzling, add the cutlets and fry for two minutes on each side.
- Add lemon juice to the pan and add pepper to one side of the meat, then turn and pepper on the other side, remove meat from the skillet. Continue heating the lemon/cooking juice liquid down to a few spoonfuls, and add to the meat.
- Place lemon quarters around the meat and serve.