Arthur Schwartz
The Food Maven
About Arthur: The New York Times Magazine called Arthur Schwartz “a walking Google of food and restaurant knowledge.” As the restaurant critic and executive food editor of the New York Daily News, which he was for 18 years, he was called The Schwartz Who Ate New York. Nowadays, he is best known as The Food Maven, the name of his website. Whatever the sobriquet, he is acknowledged as one of the country’s foremost experts on food, cooking, culinary history, restaurants, and restaurant history.
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15% off Extra virgin olive oil handcrafted from Villa Cappelli in Puglia, Italy. Experts say that the olive oil from Puglia is some of the most palatable in the world, characterized by its digestibility and high vitamin content.
1/2 Liter~16.9 ounces, regularly
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SCALOPPINE DI VITELLO ALLA (Veal Marsala)
Here’s a recipe for the weekend, SCALOPPINE DI VITELLO ALLA MARSALA, otherwise known as VEAL MARSALA, one of the most popular dishes in Italian-American restaurants.
Simple as it seems, it is not an easy dish to cook well. The veal must be dusted with flour, but barely. It must be browned quickly over high heat but without burning the fat in the pan; which is why I combine peanut oil for its high smoking point with butter for its flavor. The wine must be high quality imported Marsala—not imitation Marsala made in California. And the dish must be served immediately, right out of the pan. For this last reason, it is not a good dish to do for a crowd. In restaurants, it is made one portion at a time. At home, I don’t recommend attempting it for more than four.
Veal Marsala is often served with mushrooms in the sauce, but I prefer to cook the mushrooms separately then garnish the scaloppini with them. The flavors stay separate, but are complimentary. When I cook the mushrooms in the sauce, their subtle flavor is overwhelmed by it.
For the optional mushrooms:
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon peanut or canola oil
1/2 pound small crimini or white mushrooms, dry stem ends trimmed, thinly sliced with remaining stem
1/4 teaspoon salt
Few grinds of nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper
For the meat:
1 pound veal scaloppini cut from the leg and pounded thin, should be 8 small slices Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste About 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup dry Marsala
2 tablespoons chicken broth or water
1 heaping tablespoon coarsely chopped parsley
If garnishing with mushrooms, prepare them first:
In an 8- to 10-inch skillet, over medium heat, melt the butter in the oil. When the butter starts to sizzle, add the sliced mushrooms and toss. Cook for 5 minutes, tossing frequently, especially when the mushrooms exude their liquid. Toss in the parsley. Remove from the heat and set aside.
To cook the veal:
Lay the veal slices on your work surface. Salt and pepper them lightly.
Place the flour on a plate. Draw the veal through the flour, don’t press it in. Shake off any excess flour.
Heat a 12- to 14-inch skillet over high heat. When a drop of water evaporates quickly, add the oil and butter together.
When the butter melts and sizzles, add the veal. Don’t crowd the pan. Each side of the veal should take about 30 seconds, no more than 1 minute, to become edged and spotted with brown. As the scaloppini are done, remove them to a platter and quickly add more veal to the pan.
When all the veal has been lightly browned on both sides, pour off the oil and butter left in the pan.
Immediately add the Marsala. Let it boil down, scrapping up any brown residue on the bottom of the pan that has resulted from browning the meat.
As soon as the sauce has reduced by about half, add the 2 tablespoons of extra liquid, either broth or water. Stir it in well, taste for salt and pepper, but before you add any extra seasoning, return the meat to the sauce. Turn the slices of meat in the sauce. Now adjust the seasoning, When the sauce has become a glaze on the meat, it’s done.
Serve immediately. Garnish with chopped parsley or with the mushrooms.
