Veal With Oyster Stuffing
This is a Creole-Italian dish if ever there was one. It's reminiscent of veal spiedini from Italy, but it has a distinctly New Orleans flavor that will remind you of baked Italian-style oysters. The delicacy of the veal will add elegance to the dish. If you serve pasta with this, I'd recommend angel hair with aglio olio (a.k.a. bordelaise sauce, as we call it in New Orleans).
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Veal rolls with oyster stuffing.[/caption]
- 1 stick butter
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 rib celery, chopped
- 2 dozen oysters
- 2 Tbs. lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. salt-free Creole seasoning
- 1 eight-inch-long piece of stale French bread, cut into cubes
- 1 cup oyster water
- 8 veal round medallions, about 2 oz. each, cut across the grain
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 tsp. Creole seasoning
- 2 Tbs. butter
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 Tbs. small capers
- Chopped leaves from a sprig of oregano
1. In a skillet over medium-low heat, melt 4 Tbs. of the butter. Add the onions and celery, and cook until soft. Add the oysters and the lemon juice, and cook until the oysters just begin to curl.
2. Add the bread cubes and the oyster water to the pan. Cook, stirring gently. When everything is heated through, and the bread cubes are falling apart, remove the skillet from the heat. Hurray! You have a simple oyster dressing.
3. Pound out the veal medallions. Mix the Creole seasoning into the flour, and sprinkle (don't dredge) one side of each veal slice with the blend.
4. With the veal flour-side down, spoon the oyster dressing in a line down the center of the veal. Roll the veal around the stuffing and secure with toothpicks.
5. Melt 2 Tbs. butter in a skillet on medium heat. Brown the veal rolls in the butter on all sides. Veal cooks quickly--less than a minute on each side should do it. Add more butter if needed in the browning process. Remove the rolls and keep warm in a 200-degree oven.
6. Add the wine to the skillet and bring to a boil, whisking to dissolve the veal juices in the pan. Reduce the wine by about half, then remove from the heat and whisk in the remaining butter. Stir in the capers, and serve the sauce over the veal rolls, two per person.
Serves four.
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