Bay leaves and rosemary | All Things Sicilian and more

I will be travelling again and I have not even finished writing about the food and produce I experienced during my last overseas trip: Nottingham and environs- London – Oxford – Sicily – Rome – Berlin.

I have written a little about Nottingham and of the last trip to Sicily but nothing about the other cities. Time passes far too quickly.

I ate very well in several restaurants in the UK especially in London including Ottolenghi’s NOPI and surprisingly in Gee’s Restaurant and Bar in Oxford….those are artichokes with stems in the large plate and in the pan are salted Samphire – a succulent, vibrant green vegetable.

But one of the places I wanted to promote is the Borough Market in London for its range of quality produce.

Here are some photos of some of the mushrooms:

Even dried mushrooms:

The range of vegetables, fish, small goods, bread and cheese were fabulous, too many photos to include in this post, but the game really impressed me. Here are just a few photos – there were two refrigerated window display cases full of game meat and excellent produce made with game.

I could not resist. I bought some pigeon breasts and in the Airbnb I cooked them using minimalist equipment and ingredients. …and they were good.

Here they are and the accompanying photos illustrate how I cooked them.

Marinated them with bay and rosemary, extra virgin olive oil and a little good quality balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

I bought prosciutto and softened it in a little extra virgin olive oil in a small pan.

I removed the prosciutto and used the same small pan( that is all there was…no lid either) to sauté the pigeon.

Added some white wine, bought it to the boil and cooked it for about 1 minute.

Removed the pigeon and evaporated the wine and juices to make a glaze.

Presented them on tender green beans but also had a range of side vegetables.

I really like the gristly bits around bones, for example I like to chew around the ends of Chicken bones, shins and I particularly like pork hocks. Rather than gristle, perhaps it is collagen – the bit that connects muscle tissue together and breaks down with cooking and turns semi-transparent and tender. I think it is flavourful, but many do not.

Veal chop bones are great for chewing so when I saw veal chops at the Queen Victoria Market I bought them.

Living in Australia when I say ‘veal’ I do not mean the ‘white veal’ as in Europe, i.e. calves 18-20 weeks old, reared in small pens indoors and fed only milk. This Australian veal was quite pink – evidence that as in accordance with Australian regulations it should have been reared in open pens and fed a diet of milk and grass or grain and produced from dairy calves weighing less than 70kg or beef calves weighing up to 150kg.

Veal can be bland so the most usual way to cook veal with bone is to make a spezzatino –a braise or stew. Veal benefits from the added liquid (could be from stock/ wine/ tomatoes) and herbs for flavour.

I chose to bake my veal chops but unlike lamb or goat (kid), veal has little or no fat so it needs oil if you choose to bake them.

I marinated the chops overnight in a bowl and baked them the next day.

Meat and Marinade

For 4 people:

1.5k veal chops (there is little meat on them)
2 garlic cloves, sliced
½ cup dry Marsala or white wine
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
rosemary sprigs and bay leaves

Marinate the meat with the above ingredients for at least 2+ hours (can be done overnight). Drain the meat and solids from the marinade when you are ready to cook it. Reserve the liquid.

For Cooking

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, cut into large slices
salt
pepper
4 large potatoes
more rosemary (or sage )

Prepare the potatoes and cut into large pieces. Put them in a bowl and dress with half the oil, add seasoning and more rosemary.

Heat the oven at 180C.

Place a little more oil in a baking dish. Position the meat in the tray, arrange the slices of onions and between the meat. Add seasoning and drizzle the rest of the oil on top of the meat.

Bake the meat for 15 minutes. Turn the meat and add the potatoes (with the oil). Cook for about 40 minutes then add the drained marinade – try to pour it over the meat rather than the potatoes. Bake for another 15-20 minutes till the potatoes are cooked and the meat is coloured.

If you are wondering what the green blobs are on top of the baked veal in the main photo, they are spoons of chopped parsley which I keep in the fridge topped with extra virgin olive oil…… more for decoration, but it is also flavourful.

I guess everyone liked them.

See recipe: VITELLO ARROSTO (Roast Veal)

Tag: Bay leaves and rosemary

PIGEON BREAST cooked simply, from Borough Market in London

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COSTOLETTE DI VITELLO (Veal chops – baked)

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