Ternera a la Llanera -- Wherefore Art Thou?

Photo courtesy of http://blog.shankbone.org/

The above photo was taken at a Lower East Side of Manhattan street fair, sometime in the past. I don't know which fair. I don't know when. All I know is I want to be at that fair and I want one of those grills.

According to Wikipedia the guy in the picture is preparing "Ternera a la Llanera," a dish from the Colombian marshlands. From what I've found on the web, thank you Chrome's instant translation service, Ternera a la Llanera is the cooking of an entire veal. Now, it they're cooking an entire veal on the streets of NYC - I NEED to be there!

Here's the process....

Preparation of Veal llanera or "Mammon" is itself a party, this will kill a calf of approximately one year. The most important preparation are the cuts. There are four classics that are the bear, the eels, rays and the heron.

The bear is the part that covers the neck, throat, jaw and tongue, cut from top to bottom, so that will be taking down the dam.

The Shakers are breast meat, which are extruded in long strips.

The line includes the hindquarters, which, cut from the top (legs), including the tail, and part of the thighs. Cut trying to maintain a round shape with the tail like a bay.

The Heron is only the udder.

The cuts were made by cutting the extra skin, wrap the meat with it are exposed. Strips are sewn with the same skin, so that the meat is completely covered in the oven. Once LSTA and only seasoned with salt (including the head) is roasted in clay and brick oven at medium temperature (250 ° C) for 8 to 12 hours.

One way to know when the beef is ready, when the lips, head, shrink, giving it a cheerful expression.

Where this at? Someone, please tell me!

Recipes: Veal Stew in the Style of Ossobuco

A couple of weeks back I was asking a bunch of my on-line friends for a recipe for veal stew. I was looking for something new and I knew my blogging buddies would help me out. I was really surprised by the poor response I got back. It seems veal stew is a bit a of a rarity with my food blogging buddies. Nobody had a thing.

So I turned to the internet, and guess what? Veal Stew recipes are pretty rare out there as well. Luckily Good Morning America posted this recipe, which made up a very tasty dinner. Of course I didn't use skim or low fat anything, so that may have contributed to its goodness.

Check out the pictures, I bought a new camera recently and these are my first attempts with it. The camera is an Olympus FE-4010. It has a preset option for taking culinary photos. I know I'll get better as time goes on. Enjoy


Veal Stew in the Style of Ossobuco
From Arthur Sickle, Cheshire, Conn. 2000

Ingredients for the Stew

• 1 cup finely diced yellow onion (about 1 medium-size onion)
• 1/3 cup finely diced celery (about 1 small rib)
• 3/4 cup finely diced carrot (about 1 medium-large carrot)
• 2 small cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tsp. dried leaf thyme, crumbled
• 3 tbsp. flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 2 lbs. boneless lean veal shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 cup dry white wine such as soave or pinot grigio
• 1 (28-ounce) can peeled whole Italian plum tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
• 2 (14.25-ounce) cans reduced-sodium, nonfat chicken broth
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
  

Ingredients for the Mashed Potatoes

• 4 large Yukon gold potatoes (about 2 1/2 lbs.), peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
• 1/3 cup finely chopped chives (about 1 medium-size bunch)
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 2-tbsp. low fat sour cream
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. For Stew: Spray medium-size Dutch oven well with nonstick cooking spray and set over moderately high heat for 1 minute. Add onion, celery and carrot and saute, stirring often, until vegetables begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and cook and stir 1 minute more. Scoop vegetables into large bowl and reserve.

3. Place flour, salt, and pepper in large plastic bag and shake to combine. Pat veal chunks dry, then dredge a few chunks at a time by shaking in seasoned flour in bag. Shake excess flour from each batch.

4. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to Dutch oven and heat over moderately high heat until ripples appear on pan bottom, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Add half the dredged veal and brown well on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Lift browned veal to bowl with vegetables. Add remaining tablespoon oil to Dutch oven, brown remaining veal the same way, and add to the bowl.

5. Pour wine into Dutch oven and boil, scraping up browned bits, until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and chicken broth, return reserved veal and vegetables to pot, and bring to a boil. Mix in 2 tablespoons parsley.

6. Cover, transfer to oven, and braise, stirring every half-hour, until veal if fork-tender, about 1 1/2 hours.

7. Spoon three-fourths of vegetables in Dutch oven and 1/2 cup kettle liquid into food processor or electric blender and cool 15 minutes.

8. For mashed potatoes: Boil potatoes in just enough water to cover in covered medium-size saucepan until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain well, add remaining ingredients and mash until fluffy. Keep warm.

9. To finish stew, pulse cooled vegetable mixture in food processor until smooth, about 1 1/2 minutes. Stir back into Dutch oven and bring stew quickly to serving temperature.

10. To serve, divide mashed potatoes among eight heated dinner plates centering on plates, and with the back of a spoon, make well in each potato mound. Ladle stew over all and sprinkle lightly with remaining 2 tablespoons parsley.

Note: Veal shanks, the traditional cut for this Italian classic are loaded with fat, the marrow inside the bones contributing the lion's share. This recipe uses lean veal shoulder, trimmed of fat, and fat-free chicken broth.

Makes 8 Servings

Recipe from the "Good Morning America Cut the Calories Cookbook" Copyright 2000, Hyperion

BBQ Meals: Veal Roast

I've heard this complaint from other BBQ'rs. Sometimes you start only worrying about the 4 competition meats; chicken, ribs, brisket and pork shoulder. You stop cooking other meats and forget about the spontaneity and creativity that made you enjoy live fire cooking in the first place. Maybe that's what I'm experiencing and why I'm not finding my voice.

In the butcher case yesterday, I looked over all the usual suspects. Nothing was leaping out of the case saying "cook me. Cook me." I was looking at the chickens, but gave up and was actually considering grilling pork chops for dinner. (I hate pork chops as we were forced fed them as children) But right next to the pork was the veal. Suddenly my interest was being peaked.

Hmm, veal chops? It's been a long time since we've had veal chops. Veal cutlets? It's been longer since we've had veal cutlets. A good veal parmigiana would be an nice meal. No, it always upsets my stomach, I thought. What's this? A veal roast? I've never made one of those. How different can it be then a regular roast beef? "Cook me," it called. I grabbed the little guy, or gal I should say, and headed to the cashier.

So last night I followed the sun. I rubbed that boneless veal roast with some Bob Tallman's All Around Texas Style Fixin's and smoked the veal roast over a charcoal and apple wood fire for about 3 hours. I smoked the veal until it was medium rare. And I did it by feel. No thermometers of any kind were used in this cook.

Sweet BeJejbus! It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a meal so much. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a cook so much. No pressure. No deadline. No complicated meat preparation.

Yes, this is what cooking is all about.