Veal

Veal can sometimes provoke a strong reaction from people. Images of little baby cows being kept in tiny boxes usually springs to mind, but I recenty saw some rosé veal being sold in Tescos.

Rosé veal is from calves raised to the highest welfare standards. The pack I bought was labelled as being produced in accordance to the RSPCA's stringent programme, Freedom Foods. This means the calf may be anything up to 8 months old and is raised in an ethically sound environment.

I've never cooked veal before, but having a quick Google I saw that it was best to give it a quick cooking. I wanted to keep it simple for my first veal cooking experience, so I decided to breadcrumb the escalopes and simply fry them, serving it with a more flavoursome vegetable side dish.

Basil, Lemon & Chilli Courgettes

For two

2 courgettes, sliced into batons

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 very ripe tomatoes, deseeded and diced

1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped finely

1 stalk of spring onion, sliced

Zest of 1 small lemon

A handful of basil leaves

A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

In a little oil, firstly add the chilli and then fry the courgette batons until softened. This should take about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and fry slowly for a further minute. Add the lemon zest and mix to combine, then add the tomatoes and the spring onions. Cook on a very low heat, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go until the tomatoes are hot. Take off the heat and upon serving, scatter the basil leaves on top. Finally, drizzle the olive oil over the vegetables.

The veal was simply breaded and fried. While it was very tender, I'm not sure I'd buy it again due to the high cost of it, at around £4.40 for two small escalopes. It was definitely worth a try though, and I'd love to try a different cut of veal. Perhaps Osso Bucco...