Veal, a product that people are very opinionated about in the UK. We have the best standards in Europe and we should take advantage of these. Yes, European calves have poorer upbringings thus giving veal a bad rep but our British stuff really should be showcased. It's amazing! Here's a little recipe with our little friend from the Clyde, the Langoustine.
Recipe:
1 veal sweetbread
1 ltr Chicken stock
250ml white white
1 bulb garlic
20g thyme
1 head celery
4 shallots
1 carrot
Throw everything in a pot except the sweetbread and bring to the boil, place in the sweetbread, take off the heat and let it cool naturally. Once cool, peel the membrane off and trim it up into one inch pieces.
Shellfish Cappuccino:
1 celery stick
4 shallots
2 carrots
50ml good olive oil
10g coriander seeds
1 star anise
10 black peppercorns
1 kg shellfish bones
1 tbl tomato puree
200ml sherry
400ml white wine
1 ltr fish stock
100ml cream
50g butter
Roast the bones in the oven, while you roast the veg in a heavy bottom pan until golden brown. Add the aromatics, cook for a few moments then add the tomato puree and the shellfish bones. Deglaze the pan with the sherry and reduce. Add the wine and reduce the wine by half. Add the fish stock and bring to the boil and simmer. Skin the top every few moments. After 30 mins on the simmer, strain the liquid and reduce it by 3/4's and add the cream, add a squeeze of lemon juice. Mount the butter with a hand blender and the cappuccino is ready.
Cauliflower puree:
1kg cauliflower finely diced
300ml milk
Salt
Sweat the cauliflower down in butter slowly until fully cooked. Add the milk & bring the everything to the boil and simmer until tender. Blend to a fine puree.
To assemble the dish, peel the langoustine and cook quickly in a very hot pan, sprinkle the sweetbread with a little bit of flour and fry in a pan with oil and butter until golden brown, don't be tempted to over cook it. If it feel's spongy but firm then your spot on. Any harder and you've over cooked it.
Place a spoonful of puree in the bowl, add the sweetbread, top with langoustine add a little roasted shallot and some cappuccino. A simple dish bunged full of flavour.
