Veal Parmigiana
An absolute classic. Put the word 'parm' after anything on the east coast and you're in for a good time. We aren't in prime tomato season yet, so I went with canned tomatoes from the San Marzano region of Italy. Even when tomatoes are in season, I still reach for these since their flavor is always right where you want it to be. It's good to have reliable options. The 'torn' basil isn't an attempt to be overly fancy. Basil itself will oxidize rather quickly once you cut it, so tearing the basil gives you larger pieces that won't oxidize.
Keep in mind that you can do the breading and the frying of the meat while your sauce is slowly cooking. If you time it right, you can have the sauce just coming off the stove at the same time the veal is ready. If you want to do one at a time, then you can keep the fried veal warm in a 200º oven while you finish things up. Check them every 30 minutes to make sure they don't begin to dry out. The oven will keep them warm, but at some point their going to lose their 'fresh off the stove' feeling and taste. Check the 'Salvaging frying oil' post so you can keep your oil clean while you fry. You'll probably have to give it a little clean up half way through the frying process.
The Process
Ingredients
1lbs thinly sliced veal
28oz can San Marzano D.O.P. Tomatoes
3/4 cup Shiraz Red Wine
2tbsp Tomato Paste
1 yellow onion
6 cloves garlic
1/2 bunch fresh basil
1 cup chicken stock
2 cups low fat Buttermilk
1 package Panko Breadcrumbs, ground to a fine texture
Canola oil
Kosher Salt
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
(optional) 1tbsp sugar to taste
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Fresh Mozzarella
Cookware
12" Cast Iron Skillet
12" Deep sauté pan, fry pan or anything with high enough sides
Half Sheet pan
Half Sheet rack
2 baking pans, dishes or anything that will hold the buttermilk in one and the breadcrumbs in the other.
Slotted spoon
Paper towels to drain fried meat on
Short and Sweet Instructions
Season the veal, dredge in buttermilk and then breadcrumbs
Fry until golden brown, set aside
Make the Weeknight Red Sauce
Ladle the sauce over the veal, add the cheese and basil.
Repeat until it's stacked as high as you want it.
Prep
Breadcrumbs: blend them in a blender to a fine texture. If you don't have a blend, you can use a mortar / pestle, a heavy cast iron pan or a rolling pin. Move them to the breading pan and season with kosher salt.
Onion / Garlic: finely dice both
Buttermilk: pour into a pan, season with salt and onion powder
Cooking Instructions
The red sauce
Heat 1/8" canola oil over medium heat in a deep saute pan or similar
When shimmering, add your onions, garlic and a pinch of salt
Let them cook until the onions are translucent. Don't let either burn.
Once translucent, add 2 tbsp tomato paste and stir to combine.
Let it cook for 1-2 minutes
Add your red wine, turn the heat up to medium-high and reduce to a glaze
Add your chicken stock and reduce by 1/3
Add your tomatoes. If they're whole, then crush them a bit with a wooden spoon.
Add a nice pinch of salt, a pinch of oregano and your bay leaf
Stir to combine
Turn the heat up to medium high to bring to a boil.
Once it reaches a boil, drop the heat to medium low and cover with a lid.
Cook for a bare minimum of 20 minutes. 30 is better. Even better if you can go longer.
Adjust seasonings as you finish your cooking. If you need a touch of sweetness, add the sugar here. Make sure you give the seasonings a minute or two to really incorporate their flavors into the sauce after stirring.
If you want a homestyle sauce, you can leave it as-is. If you want a refined, smoother sauce, you can put it through a blender.
Veal
Take the meat out of the fridge 30 mins before cooking if possible. Try to never cook meat directly out of the fridge.
Season your meat with a light sprinkling of garlic powder, onion powder and kosher salt. In that order.
It's best to work with rubber gloves, so use them if you have them.
You're going to use both hands here; one for wet and one for dry. If you've ever breaded anything before you'll know that your hands will turn into little concrete balls if you go from your liquid to your breadcrumbs and back again.
Heat enough canola oil in a cast iron or fry pan so it's about 1/8" deep
With one hand, dip your seasoned meat into the buttermilk and lightly press down so it's coated
Flip to coat the other side
Using your wet hand, transfer it to the breadcrumb tray. Press it down using the wet hand.
Using your dry hand, pick up the bread crumbs and sprinkle over top of the meat.
Using your dry hand, flip the meat and press down into the bread crumbs.
Figure out how many cutlets your pan can hold and bread only that many for each batch.
Carefully lay the veal cutlets down away from you in the pan. So if oil pops out, it's going to go away from you and not directly at your face. Which is nice.
Let them cook until golden brown and then flip.
While those are cooking, you can restart the process for your next batch.
Repeat the same buttermilk and breading process.
When the cutlets are golden brown on both sides, you can take them out of the pan and move them to a paper towel lined half sheet pan. You can blot the top as well to try and remove as much oil as possible.
Repeat until all of your veal is cooked.
You can keep the cooked veal warm in a 200º oven if you desire.
Finishing
Portion out which pieces will form each serving. You can stack two or three together based on how brave you're feeling at the time.
Warm up the meat if it has been sitting at room temperature.
Warm the sauce up if it has been cooling.
Turn your broiler on. You're going to use this to melt the cheese just before serving
Plating
Plating this meal uses the oven one more time.
Turn your broiler on.
Take a piece of the veal and lay it down in the center of a baking sheet.
Layer a thin coating of sauce on the top.
Pull chunks of the cheese off and spread it over the sauce.
Tear bits of basil over the top as well.
Top that with another piece of veal.
Add sauce to the top.
Tear chunks of cheese off over the top.
Do NOT put basil on this one.
Place under the broiler until cheese is melting and just starting to brown and bubble.
Remove from oven and transfer to dinner plate with a spatula.
Repeat for remaining pieces