Veal Picatta

Main Dish

A mainstay in the early days of the Purple Parrot Café. I served this at my rehearsal dinner.

Ingredients

1 cup All-purpose flour
1 Tbl House seasoning blend (recipe xxx)
16 each – 2 oz. veal top round cutlets, pounded thin
2 tsp Kosher salt
2 tsp Fresh ground black pepper
½ cup Extra virgin olive oil
6 Tbl Capers, drained and rough chopped (if large)
2 Tbl Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 Large lemon, zested (about 1 Tbl) and juiced (about 2 Tbl)
1 tsp Garlic, minced
½ cup Dry white wine
¼ cup Chicken stock (see recipe)
4 Tbl Unsalted butter, cut into cubes, chilled

Instructions

In a bowl, combine the flour and house seasoning. Season the veal with the salt and pepper. Lightly dust each cutlet in the seasoned flour and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the floured veal cutlets, working in small batches, for about 1-2 minutes on each side and set aside on paper towels to drain. When all the veal has been seared, add the capers, lemon zest and juice, parsley, and garlic to the same skillet and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Deglaze with the wine and cook until almost completely evaporated, about 3-4 minutes. Add the chicken stock and reduce until about 2 Tbl of liquid remains. Reduce heat to low and incorporate chilled butter pats one at a time, stirring with a wire whip until fully incorporated. Once all butter has been incorporated, remove from heat.

Serve 2 cutlets per person and top each with the caper, lemon, butter mixture.

Recent Recipes

Amalfi Lemon Cake

There's a particular kind of sunshine that only shows up in citrus form, and this Amalfi Lemon Cake has it in spades. Bright, moist, and unapologetically lemony, it walks the line between a proper dessert and something you'd be just as happy eating with your coffee on a Tuesday morning. The glaze soaks into the crumb while the cake's still warm, so every bite carries that little pucker of acidity balanced against real sweetness. It's simple enough for a weeknight and pretty enough for company.

Pecan Crusted Redfish

There's a certain kind of Southern kitchen wisdom that says you can't improve on a fresh Gulf redfish — and for the most part, that's true. But every now and then a dish comes along that doesn't so much improve the fish as it does pay proper respect to it, and this pecan-crusted redfish is one of those. It's a dish that works just as well for a Tuesday supper as it does for a table full of guests you're trying to impress — which, if you ask me, is the mark of a truly great recipe. Serve it simple, with rice or grits and something green on the side, and let the fish do the talking.

Stuffed Pork

Robert St. John's Stuffed Pork is an elegant centerpiece dish that takes a braised pork loin and layers it with Black Forest ham and melted Fontina cheese for a result that's as impressive to look at as it is to eat. The pork is seared, slow-roasted in chicken stock, and then sliced accordion-style so each cut fans open to hold the savory fillings before going back into the oven to meld together. A silky pan sauce made from the reduced braising liquid and heavy cream ties it all together, making this one of those recipes that feels restaurant-worthy without being out of reach.

RobertStJohn.com