Crumbed Veal with Asiago Cheese
Most Australian cafes and pubs serve a dish known as Chicken Parmagiana. Do not ask me what this has got to do with Parma. It is an imposter! I have never read of it in any of my books of Parma food and I suspect this dish is a bastardization of something vaguely Italian. It is usually a huge crumbed and fried chicken breast, topped with an over reduced tomato sauce, a slice of processed ham and a mound of plastic cheese. It usually comes with fried chips. The whole experience reminds me of a bad pizza and is too vulgar for my tastes..
I do not claim my version to be authentic, but when it is made with quality ingredients it is definitely a tasty and worthy dish.
Chicken has temporarily been banned from my household, so I am using milk fed veal in its place (far superior substitute).
Ingredients per person
1 thin veal steak
1 anchovy fillet, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Fresh parsley, rosemary and sage, all finely chopped.
Sea salt
Fresh black pepper
1 egg, beaten (free range)
Dried breadcrumbs (the Japanese make fabulous dried breadcrumbs)
Peanut oil, for deep frying
A knob of butter
1-2 Tbsp of homemade tomato sauce
Slices of Asiago cheese
Method.
Check that your steak is of an even thickness. If not, give it a light bashing with the rolling pin (I love a bit of discipline in the kitchen).
Combine the egg with the anchovy, garlic herbs and seasoning,
Add the veal steak to the egg mixture, cover and refrigerate for a few hours.
Remove the steaks from the eggy marinade and allow the excess to drip away.
Dip the steak into the breadcrumbs. Coat well, pressing the crumbs into the meat. Place in the fridge, covered until you are ready to fry.
Preheat your grill to hot.
Heat enough peanut oil in a pan so you can deep fry your steak (or steaks if making more than one). When hot, add the butter and fry the crumbed steak until golden.
Immediately drain on some paper, for a minute.
Top with a spoonful or two of tomato sauce and slices of asiago cheese.
Place under the hot grill, until the cheese is just melted and oozing.
Serve immediately. It is perfect with a simple dish of very fine asparagus spears and rainbow chard stalks tossed with a white truffle oil vinaigrette.
