New Beginnings

Many new things are happening in my life. The first being that I am starting to write regularly again and I am going to try to be better about sharing my food experiences with you. Just because I took a blogging hiatus for a while, in no way does that mean that I have stopped eating and cooking, cooking and eating. In fact it is the opposite. I have just graduated from Tante Marie Cooking School in San Francisco. I am so grateful to everybody that I learned from there. I learned more then I even knew I could about food, tasting, technique, my love for all things cooking, and so much more.

While I was in school I wanted to completely focus on what I was being taught, so I put the blog on hold. But now I am back! I have moved to Brooklyn where I am currently looking for work, but also enjoying the the new sites and new eats. My kitchen is now packed with all the stuff that I brought with me from San Francisco and I have begun to cook regularly again. I am trying to come up with my own recipes or at least change existing recipes to make them my own and be inspired by what is around me.

So, to start off, I was at the meat counter at Fairway and I noticed some beautiful veal scallopini; paper thin and rosy pink. I din't have much of a recipe in mind but I knew I had to have that veal. I looked in my cart to see what else I had already thrown in; mushrooms, cream, pancetta, orecchiette pasta, and I knew I could make something with what I had. Cheers to cooking and eating and I hope you enjoy this recipe.

Veal Scallopini with Mushrooms and Peas

Serving size: 2 people

1/2 lb. veal scallopini

1/4 inch slice pancetta

8 brown mushrooms

1/2 box orecchiette pasta

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 T butter

2 T EVOO

1 cup frozen peas

1/4 cup cream

3 sprigs thyme

The first thing to do is put a pasta pot on with salted water and bring up to a boil. While waiting for the water to boil I season the veal with salt and pepper on both sides.

I then slice the mushrooms and saute them in a little butter and olive oil seasoned with salt and pepper.

By now the pasta water should be almost to a boil. Dry sautee the sliced pancetta and remove when golden brown to a bowl. Pour off some of the fat but keep some for browning the veal in. Then flour the veal on both sides and get the frying pan screaming hot with EVOO and a little butter.

It is important to make sure the pan is very hot because you want the veal to brown, but because it is so thin it cooks very quickly. Begin cooking the veal, and once the veal has browned on both sides remove it from the pan and put on a warm plate. Pour the pasta into the boiling salted water and begin to make the sauce.

To make the sauce pour off any grease from the veal and add the white wine and sprigs of thyme. Let reduce till half (3-5 min) then add the chicken stock and let that reduce till half (5-10 min). Add a little of this broth to the cooked and strained pasta. When the wine and chicken broth is reduced, add the cream and peas let cook for 2 min then add the mushrooms, pancetta, and veal. Do not cook this for long just so it all mixes together. Place the pasta on a plate, then add the veal and pour the sauce over.

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