URILLED VEAL CHOP
Over a Pungent Tomato Sauce and Garlic Rouille
This dish possesses the full, brazen, undiluted sunshine personality of Provence. There is nothing subtle about it except the veal, and we attempt to pump extra character into that by grilling the meat with fresh herbs generously rubbed into it.
Serves 4
% cup chopped fresh basil leaves 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
V2 cup virgin olive oil Cracked black pepper and coarse salt Four 10- to 12-ounce veal rib chops, bone in 1 recipe Rouille (page 234), made with 3 or 4 extra garlic cloves if you like garlic
TOMATO SAUCE
Ч2 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 onion, peeled and diced
3 tablespoons butter 1 cup red wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced Ч2 tablespoon crushed red pepper
3 poblano peppers, stems, seeds, and ribs 1 bay leaf
removed, julienned 4 cups tomato concasse
2 leeks, white part only, cleaned and Ч2 cup pitted Nicoise olives
diced
1. 1. Combine the chopped herbs with the olive oil. Season the meat and rub liberally with the herb mixture. Set aside in the refrigerator.
2. Make the rouille and keep at room temperature.
3. Make the sauce: Heat the olive oil and butter in a medium-sized saucepan until foamy. Add the garlic and poblano peppers. (If poblanos are unavailable, substitute 3 jalapenos.) Cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add the diced leeks and onion. Cook about 2 minutes. Then add the vinegar and reduce by three-fourths.
4. Add the crushed red pepper, bay leaf, and tomato concasse. Cook about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the olives. Keep warm.
5. Grill the veal until done the way you like it.
6. Spoon tomato sauce on warm plates. Top with the veal and then spoon some of the rouille over the meat. Serve.
with Gorgonzola Butter and Marinated Deep-Fried Red Onions
When I was a child, it was my good fortune to eat filet mignon at some of the steak houses Chicago was famous for. I loved the charred, crisp exterior and suave, soft, rich meat. I thought it was almost as good as the huge deep-fried onion rings that routinely crowned the beef. (The onions here need a head start of at least six hours.)
RILLED FILET OF BEEF
Serves 4
small red onions, cut into thin rings cups Hot Chile Oil (page 212) cups milk
cup butter, softened at room temperature cup red wine
shallots, peeled and finely chopped tablespoon cracked black pepper
1 cup Gorgonzola cheese Four 8-ounce beefsteaks cut from the tenderloin, completely cleaned
1 tablespoon virgin olive oil Salt and pepper, to taste Vegetable oil for deep-frying
1. 1 cup flour
1. Immerse the onions in the chile oil for at least 4 hours. Drain them and then immerse them in the milk for 2 or more hours.
2. Heat a grill.
3. Put the softened butter in a mixer bowl. In a saucepan, reduce the red wine with the shallots and cracked black pepper until only a little bit remains. Add this reduction to the butter in the mixer bowl and begin to beat slowly. Add the Gorgonzola piece by piece, beating until it is all incorporated. Season to taste. Set aside in a cool but not cold place.
4. Rub the steaks with the olive oil and salt and pepper.
5. Heat the vegetable oil in a deep-fry pot to 365 degrees.
6. Take the onion rings out of the milk and drain them on paper toweling. Then dredge them in the flour.
7. Begin to grill the steaks to desired doneness. Meanwhile, deep-fry the onion rings until crisp, and remove them to clean paper toweling.
8. Put the steaks on warm plates and top with the Gorgonzola butter. Heap the onion rings over the steaks and serve.
This simple but forthright dish calls for a good cm bourgeois Bordeaux. A young California Cabernet or its Spanish equivalent would be suitable alternatives.