Meeta Experiments: Veal "Vilanese" and a Peas and Lettuce Salad



"What's for lunch, Mum?"

"Ummm ... Veal Vilanese!"

"Veal Vilanese? What is that?"

"What's for lunch, Soeri?"

"Mum says Veal Vilanese!"

"Veal Vilanese? What's that?"

"I'm experimenting with a new idea!"

A typical lunch time conversation at our place!

I am thinking of putting up a "Please do not enter: Research in progress" sign on our kitchen entrance when I am experimenting with new recipes. It is no wonder that my men are always confused when I give them names they cannot define.

So what is a Veal Vilanese?

Well, here is Germany a very, very popular dish is the "Wiener Schnitzel". Which is of course a piece of pork coated in bread-crumbs and fried. "Wien" being the German/Austrian name for the city of Vienna. Please do not ask me if this dish originated from Vienna ... I am not really sure, but I do know here in Germany, this little bread crumbed meat is served in every restaurant.

Normally served with a lot of potatoes in every form (fries, mashed, plain etc.) and some vegetables. At fast food localities it is served with bread rolls or potato salads. All very fattening and filling!

Change of city: Milan!
The Piccata Milanese - what a fantastic dish. Something similar to the Wiener schnitzel but made with veal and it is coated with not only bread crumbs but also parmesan. Served with a fantastic pasta and a light refreshing tomato sauce.

I thought "What would happen if I combined both together .... what would I get"

The Answer: Veal Vilanese (Vi = Vienna / Lanese = Milanese) Get it? LOL!

I prefer the veal to the pork as the meat is leaner and I find adding grated parmesan cheese to the coating enhances the flavor when pan fried.

However, the experimentation did not end there. I wanted vegetables and I wanted a salad with this.

We are having real hot weather here and none of us feel like sitting down to a meal with filling and heavy condiments. So I though of a little experiment - wipe out the filling potato/pasta and bring in a salad.

Eureka! A vegie/lettuce salad. All served with a tangy and creamy dressing.

If the schnitzel originates from Vienna and the piccata from the Milan, where can I say does the Vilanese originate from?

Music to recipe: Maneater - Nelly Furtado






Ingredients:

For the Pea and Lettuce Salad
1 garlic clove - mashed
1 medium sized onion - finely chopped
200g sour cream
3 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
salt and pepper
100g peas
2 roman lettuce hearts - washed and cut into bite size pieces

For Vilanese
75g parmesan - grated
5-6 tablespoons fine breadcrumbs
2 eggs - beaten
3-4 tablespoons flour
4 veal steaks
2 tablespoons oil
1 lime







Method:

Prepare the salad dressing first. In a mixing bowl add the garlic and onions with the sour cream, mustard and vinegar. Whisk well until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste.

Steam the peas for 2-3 minutes. Run under cold water so that they keep their wonderful green color. In a salad bowl mix the peas and the lettuce together and pour the dressing over this.

Now to the meat: Mix 3/4 of the parmesan with the bread crumbs on a wide plate. On another pour the beaten egg and on yet another plate place the flour. Salt and pepper each steak.

Take each piece of meat and coat first with flour, then soak in the egg and lastly coat in the cheese/breadcrumbs mixture. Press lightly with your finger to fix the coating onto the meat.

Heat some oil in a skillet of frying pan. Fry the vilanese on each side for approx. 3 minutes until golden brown.

Sprinkle with rest of the cheese.

Serve with lime wedges and the refreshing salad.


Verdict:

First to the salad. I have to say that Soeren does not eat anything that is leafy or lettucy (except for spinach). With this salad however, he kind of peered over the bowl curiously. He adores peas and I thought it might just make him want to try some. Well, I just gave him a piece of meat and started cutting it into pieces for him. I ignored the salad completely, hoping that he might object. He did! He looked at me and requested if he could try a "small" bowl of the salad. I did not make a big deal of it, trying to hide my excitement at the fact that my son wanted to try salad. He did ... and wanted more. YAAAAYYYY! I still played it cool though. I mean I don't want to act like it was any big deal.

The salad was really delicious. The tangy mustard taste incorporated with the sour cream really made the dressing flavorful. The peas and the lettuce really went well with the meat.

The Vilanese steaks were a wonderful fairy tale on their own. The cheese kind of melts and crisps up when frying. Making the outer coating taste lovely and cheesey. The veal was soft and juicy and had a wonderful aroma.


The salad is just perfect for Gabriella's Summer Salad Special event.
I also think Cate will like this entry for her ARF-5-A Day Tuesday



Update: After having posted this recipe I was informed by my dear German blogger friend Ulli that a Wiener Schnitzel is made from veal too. That, as a matter of fact, if any restaurants serve this with pork and name it Wiener Schnitzel they could end up paying a fine. It has to be described as Schnitzel Wiener Style if it is made with anything else but veal. I was not aware of this fine difference to detail and would like to take this opportunity to correct myself. Thank you Ulli!




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13 comments:

  1. hello:D first time here through Mint's blog.

    this sounds and looks SO GREAT!...i cant wait to start cooking for my husband and trying new stuff out to experiment with..hehe. makes it FUNNER to see someone else try it!

    just a quick question...when you fry the meat with the coating.. hwo do you prevent the coating from cooking faster and the meat inside from not getting cooked enough!?!? does it have to be on a medium flame? or low?...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hallo Meeta, da reicht mein Englisch nicht mehr! Aer ein Wiener Schnitzel ist "immer" vom Kalb!! Das ist so in den Leitsätzen für Fleisch und Fleischerzeugnissen des Deutschen Lebensmittelbuches so festgelegt und entspricht der Verkehrsauffassung.

    Das berichtet auch Wikipedia
    http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiener_Schnitzel


    Das musste gesagt werden

    ReplyDelete
  3. What Ostwestwind wrote is correct. Wiener Schnitzel must be veal. In most restaurants it is served with pork and it should be named as 'Schweineschnitzel Wiener Art'.
    Picata Milanes would be my first choice.

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  4. Wow Meeta, after reading the recipe i wished I ate meat. But sadly I don't. But i loved the write up as usual too.

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  5. Hallo Meeta !

    I've found your blog and how funny it is ! It has nearly the same name as mine !

    Congratulations for your work, your recipes and your photos are nice ! That's why I add your blog in my favourites !

    I'm not very good at photography and I'm looking for a "designer" to illustrate my pages. Do you want to work with me, it could be a kind of virtual association, what do you think about it ?!

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  6. This looks wonderful. I'm definitely going to try a salad dressing like this! And I'd never thought of putting peas in a salad before but I'm looking forward to trying it!

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  7. Grafgurl Thanks for coming over. Hope to see you more often. Lez me know your verdict when you do try it out. I normally fry on both sides very quickly on high heat then turn it down and let it sizzle on a low heat.

    Ulli,
    Kaffeebohne
    Danke! I did not know that. I was so used to getting the schnitzel served with pork that I thought that was the traditional way. But thank your for correcting me! I have updated the post with a mention to what you said.

    Anu you can make this with other things too. Try out Aubergine or if you eat fish it should work well with that too.

    Ingrid
    I will check your blog out later today. Would love to help ... what did you have in mind ... write to me on my email address and we can chat further.

    Nicole
    Let me know what your verdict is!

    ReplyDelete
  8. You're so creative, always coming up with such tasty looking dishes!

    Tonight I tried something new as well- chicken breast stuffed with proscuitto, swiss cheese, basil and sundried tomatoes, done in the oven with lemon and basil on top... it's just been put in the oven so I'm not sure how it will turn out yet.

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  9. Wow, that salad looks SCRUMMY! No wonder Soeren wanted to try some, Meeta :)

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  10. That looks great Meeta! Thank you a ton for joining ujs. The round up will be up soon.

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  11. That looks beautiful, and though I don't eat meat, i could drool on the pics. I can have the salad though-
    WIll try a vegetarian variation on this-
    Hugs
    N

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  12. Ein Wiener Schnitzel ist ein dünnes, paniertes und gebackenes Schnitzel aus Kalbfleisch. Es gehört zu den berühmtesten Spezialitäten der Wiener Küche. Vermutlich stammt es aus Oberitalien – Costoletta alla milanese wird ähnlich aus etwas dickeren Koteletts zubereitet – und fand im 14. oder 15. Jahrhundert seinen Weg nach Wien. Nach einer weiteren Vermutung brachte es erst der Feldmarschall Radetzky 1857 aus Italien mit. Die Bezeichnung „Wiener Schnitzel“ wurde erst gegen Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts geprägt.

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  13. That looks and sounds terrific! Love the pineapple idea.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting What's For Lunch, Honey? and taking time to browse through my recipes, listen to my ramblings and enjoy my photographs. I appreciate all your comments, feedback and input. I will answer your questions to my best knowledge and respond to your comments as soon as possible.

In the meantime I hope you enjoy your stay here and that I was able to make this an experience for your senses.

Hugs
Meeta