Veal Cacciatore

I couldn't pass up the opportunity this past weekend to purchase some veal at the Arlington Farmer's Market from my friends at EcoFriendly Foods. Here is what they say about their veal:

"We’d like to continue to promote our new veal program. Most veal production models do not fall within our comfort zone of what we consider humane but we’re now supplying an alternative known as “Rose Veal”. Rather than being an adjunct of the dairy industry, Rose Veal is a focused production model where the calves are left with the mothers throughout their lives. These animals are approximately five months old and have been raised with their mothers on pasture. Their diet consists of mother’s milk and as much grass as their developing palettes care to eat. It’s this limited grazing that gives the meat its ‘Rose’ color, and characteristic flavor."

It worked out quite well that there was a recipe for veal cacciatore in the latest issue of Gourmet. Now, I ate my fair share of cacciatore when I was a youngster, but I gave my poor Italian mother hell every time. I was more than a picky eater and actually rinsed off the chicken in the sink right before dinner. Sorry, Mom.

I used a little less than 2 pounds of veal and it was not enough. I didn't modify the cooking time to accomodate the size of the veal; I wasted an hour and a half cooking (well, overcooking) the meat, and we don't have any left-overs. Luckily, we had a copy of "Slumdog Millionaire" to watch, so not all time was ill spent.

This dish was also a perfect opportunity to try out a holiday gift from my better half. This apron looks awkward when you first put it on, yet the handiness of the oven mitts makes up for any fashion faux pas when you are lugging cast iron out of the oven a few times.

The photo is taken before braising in the oven.