Veal arm chops with mushrooms

One store by my house frequently has fresh veal. The other day, I grabbed a couple of packages of arm chops and some mushrooms. I just couldn’t pass them up. 

There are some people who turn their nose up at veal. I don’t know, I guess it’s the whole baby-cow thing. I find that if you start dwelling on the personalities of your food, you may get sentimental and that might get in the way of a good meal. (Where do you draw the line? That pretty little lettuce plant was happily growing in the sun, until someone with a knife ended it’s poor little life.)

I’m as sentimental as the next guy, but I also like meat. In fact I saw an ad for another store, that is advertising goat leg. You may see a recipe for that of these days. 

Veal arm chops can be a little tough sometimes, but I like them. Don’t skimp on the white pepper. I like that flavor to come through.

Olive oil

2 lb. veal shoulder chops

Fresh ground white pepper

Adobo seasoning

1/4 lb. shiitake mushrooms

2 large shallots

1/4 tsp. thyme

1 cup white wine

1 tbs. butter

Wondra instant flour

1 tsp. paprika

1-1/2 cups chicken or veal stock (approximate)

Preparation

Heat a large cast iron skillet until hot. While that is heating, season both sides of the veal with white pepper and adobo seasoning. Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan and add the veal. Sear them a couple of minutes per side. After turning the veal over, add the shallots, mushrooms and thyme. Stir until the shallots start to clarify.

Add the white wine, turn the veal over and bring the wine to a boil. Place the pan under a hot broiler. Broil until the veal starts to brown, turn it over and broil the other side. Once both sides are nicely charred, remove the pan from the broiler and set it back on the stove.

Place the veal on a platter and keep warm. Set the cast iron pan back on the stove and melt the butter over medium heat. Sprinkle on the paprika and sprinkle on enough instant flour to absorb much of the moisture. Stir the mushrooms well to distribute the flour. Add chicken stock, a little at a time until you have a nice gravy thickness. Stir and let that simmer for a couple of minutes and add more stock if needed. Taste and adjust the gravy for salt and pepper.

Serving

I like to serve a couple of arm chops next to some boiled potatoes. Just cover both with some of the gravy. Add some sautéed carrots with butter and some homemade dinner rolls. Open up a bottle of Merlot to wash it down with and dinner is ready.