Faux Veal Marsala

The old man we lived with and cared for had certain special meals he liked me to make, including tripe, sweetbread, tongue (all parts of a cow); but our favorite was Veal Marsala. His butler pantry had a full set of Pink Tower Spode, and when I pounded flour into the veal it was the rippled edge of the spode saucer that flattened the veal the best. From his hospital bed in an upstairs bedroom, he would listen to what he called "the ringing of the plate" as I prepared the meal. It was work intensive.

Our eldest was just a baby when we lived there, but that meal has become a family tradition and one of his favorites. Eldest son requested it for his birthday. I don't make it often because it's a ton of work, but I got up early on his birthday, gathered my supplies, and began the "pounding of the meat." I used a regular saucer but it did not do as good a job. And forget a meal cleaver. It just gets meat caught up in it and causes a mess.

This time I didn't pound as long so the meat was not as thin as it could be. And since veal is so expensive, we serve "faux veal"--which is turkey breast cutlets cut in small pieces and pounded with flour. I've perfected my method, and place a cutting board in the sink with a cup of flour nearby. That way I don't have a dusting of flour over everything in the kitchen. After the pounding, I saute the meat in a small amount of olive oil, with a dash of salt and RED PEPPER. I also have a cup of beef broth nearby and as the meat browns I add a bit of broth into the pan to keep it from sticking and give it a nice brown color.  I place that all on a plate while I saute sliced mushrooms in oil (with a little salt and red pepper), remove from pan, and drain on a paper towel. Back into the pan goes the meat and mushrooms, along with more broth and a cup or so of marsala wine.

That's a rough recipe, but how it works for us. I've learned over the years that I can make this ahead and reheat it, usually leaving the mushrooms to do at the last minute. It's good served with browned small potatoes (yes I use canned sometimes!) and to be honest, we forget it's not veal! And when it's finished and I slip into my place at the table, I feel like I've really cooked!

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