Veal Marsala

(For those of you who don’t eat veal for ethical reasons, my apologies for my cruel, carnivorous tendencies. Please ignore this post.)

Somewhere in the maturation of my taste buds, my dad’s most requested special occasion dinner became my own: tender, flour-coated veal cutlets topped with a mushroom-marsala wine sauce. I was lucky to inherit his good taste in food, be it by nature or nurture.

I’ve tried the dish in many a restaurant that makes it taste good but never on par with my mom’s recipe, which is funny now that I have learned how (relatively) simple it is to make: dredge veal in flour, cook in butter, add wine, cook wine with mushrooms and beef broth for a while, the end.

So for Father’s Day last week guess what I made for dinner, for the first time by myself? I am happy to report that I proved the taste of my mom’s veal is replicable, so it will certainly be on my own special occasion menus to come, even if I have to make up special occasions.

 The veal marsala tasted fancy and, together with pasta with marinara sauce, Italian salad and garlic bread, took just about an hour, with some breaks for present opening in between. Win and win.

Note: I used cooking marsala. It’s cheap, and you can buy it on Sundays in counties that are Sabbath-day dry like ours. Real marsala wine would have been nice for drinking too though.


Veal Marsala

Veal Marsala

¾ lb. veal cutlets
½ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
All purpose flour
¼ cup butter
1/3 cup Marsala wine
½ cup beef broth
Mushrooms (optional, I used one standard-sized package of fresh ones)

Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Sauté cutlets in butter 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Add wine. Cook veal in wine 1 minute over medium heat. Remove veal to a warm serving platter or keep warm in the oven. Add broth and mushrooms to skillet. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cook until mushrooms are tender. Serve sauce and mushrooms over the cooked veal.