Veal Recipes

Veal Essentials: What Cookware to Use When Preparing Veal

When it comes to preparing veal, there are two basic cooking methods. You can use either dry heat or moist heat. Dry heating methods include roasting, broiling, pan broiling, grilling or stir frying, while moist heating methods include braising and simmering.

When it comes to preparing tender cuts of veal, like leg cutlets, veal patties, rib and loin chops – both dry and moist cooking methods work fine. For those less tender cuts (i.e – cross cut shanks, stew meat, round steak and breast of veal), moist cooking methods might be more suitable. If you want to use dry heating methods on these less tender cuts, it’s worth mentioning that you can marinate and pound the less tender cuts to break down the tough connective tissue.

How do you know what types of kitchenware work best with what type of cooking? Here is a simple guide, designed to help you get the most out of your veal.

• Roasting Your Veal: When it comes to roasting veal, the most basic piece of cookware that you need is a roasting pan. With the right roasting pan you can create a perfect roast veal brisket or delectable roasted veal loin. When shopping for a suitable roasting pan, non stick stainless steel varieties are a safe bet. The stainless steel has a contemporary look and they are easy to clean. Most stainless steel roasting pans also come with some kind of a roasting rack which also helps ensure a perfect veal every time, while also making the pan easier to clean. Emile Henry, Calphalon and Mauviel all make excellent roasting pans, suitable for your veal cooking needs.
• Pan Frying Your Veal: When it comes to making a delicious pan-fried veal, its best to use either a frying pan or a sauté pan of some kind. Make sure it’s large enough for the cut of veal that you have. Not to knock kitchenware made from other materials, but in all honesty, I go for the stainless steel option whenever possible. Not only is it non stick but it just looks so much nicer! Emerilware and Calphalon make some really nice non stick frying pans that would be perfect for making a delicious veal toarmina or veal parmigiana. Aluminum, cast iron and copper fry pans are also acceptable options.
• Grilling Your Veal: When it comes to making grilled veal chops, an outdoor barbeque grill works best, however you can do it indoors with an indoor grill from Hamilton Beach or George Foreman! Grilling with an indoor grill might actually save you time, since it’s recommended that you grill each side of the veal chop for 4 minutes. You can grill an entire boneless veal chop in about 4 minutes total! Alternatively, you can also grill on top of your stove with a hard anodized aluminum, non stick grill pan. Personally, if I’m going to grill a veal chop, I’m going to do it outdoor and get that yummy charcoal flavor, but there are indoor grilling options available as well.
• Broiling Your Veal: Broiling is another great option for preparing your veal. A broiled veal loin chop with mushrooms is absolutely delicious and pretty easy to make. In order to prepare your veal for broiling, you need to marinate it. Since broiling uses intense heat to cook the meat, you risk drying it out. In addition to the broiler, you should have a baking dish to let the meat marinate, and a broiler pan to cook the meat. Broiler pans come in two pieces generally – a slotted upper pan and a deeper, solid pan called a drip pan. Most ovens come with a broiler pan, but you can also purchase them separately. You can also use a baking rack that fits over a roasting pan that can catch the drippings. Broiler pans have the tendency to get messy so spray it with a non stick spray first or line it with aluminum foil.
• Braising Your Veal: Braised veal chops with some tarragon are one of my favorite dishes! Braising is essentially the same thing as roasting less tender meats with a small amount of liquid in a tightly covered pan. My recommendation would be to use a cast iron braiser of some kind, or a Dutch oven. Calphalon, Emerilware, and Rachael Ray all make decent cast iron Dutch ovens, perfect for braising a veal chop. If you want to go with a more high-end style French oven, check out Le Creuset. You can use a regular sauce pan, sauté pan or stockpot, just keep an eye on the temperature, time and the amount of liquid you have in the pot.