Moira Hodgsons Vitello Tonnato Recipes

VITELLO TONNATO

Steps:

• In a pot just large enough to fit veal, put wine, celery, onion, carrot, leek, marjoram, thyme and garlic. Add 3 inches of water, and bring to a boil. Add veal, and bring back to a boil. Immediately turn off heat, cover pot and let veal cool in its liquid 2 to 3 hours. When completely cool, thinly slice veal. Slices should be about 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick.
• While veal cools, make sauce: In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and 1/4 teaspoon salt until pale yellow and the consistency of cream. Beginning a drop at a time, add 1 1/4 cups oil, whisking continually. As mixture thickens, you can add oil more quickly. When it gets quite thick, whisk in 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Continue adding oil until all of it has been absorbed and mayonnaise is quite thick and shiny. Whisk in another tablespoon of lemon juice.
• Drain tuna, and put it in a food processor with anchovies, remaining cup olive oil, remaining lemon juice and capers. Process until you get a creamy, uniformly blended sauce. Scrape sauce into bowl with mayonnaise and fold to combine. Taste. It should be quite tangy and highly seasoned. Refrigerate until needed.
• To assemble dish: remove 3/4 cup sauce, and reserve to serve alongside veal. Smear bottom of a large serving platter with some of the remaining tuna sauce. Place a layer of veal slices on top, meeting edge to edge without overlapping. Cover with sauce, then make another layer of meat and sauce. Repeat until all the meat is used. Leave yourself enough sauce to blanket top layer.
• Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Bring to room temperature before serving. Garnish with some or all suggested ingredients. Serve with reserved sauce on the side.

SAM SIFTON'S VITELLO TONNATO

Steps:

• If necessary, tie the veal with cotton string, so that it resembles a salami. Place the meat in a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven and cover with tuna, onion, celery, carrot, bay leaf, parsley, wine, broth, salt and pepper, then heat over a high flame until it comes to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to very low, cover and simmer for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the veal reaches 130 degrees.
• Remove meat to a large, nonreactive bowl, strain the broth over it, cover and allow the meat to cool in the refrigerator. (Discard solids.)
• Meanwhile, put yolks in a medium bowl. Beat together with a wire whisk. Begin to add oil as you beat, a very little at a time, adding more as each bit is incorporated. When a thick emulsion forms, then you can add oil a little faster, but not much faster. The entire process should take roughly 5 to 7 minutes. (You may not need all the oil.)
• Add tuna, anchovies and caper brine to the mixture, then beat to incorporate. Add a few tablespoons of the veal broth to thin the sauce slightly. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding lemon juice or more broth to taste. The sauce should not taste overly mayonnaisey but should lurk in the neighborhood.
• Remove the cooled veal from its broth, untie and cut across the grain into very thin slices. Arrange these neatly on a platter with the edges of the slices overlapping, and spoon the tuna sauce over the top. Cover and return to refrigerator overnight or until ready to use. Garnish with capers or fried capers, lemon, hard-cooked egg wedges or sprigs of parsley. Serve with copious amounts of bread and a green salad, lightly dressed.

MOIRA HODGSON'S VITELLO TONNATO

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Make tiny incisions in the side of the veal and insert cloves of garlic inside. Season the veal with salt and pepper.
• Place the veal in a casserole with the carrots, onion, white wine, thyme and oregano. Cover and cook for two hours, turning frequently. Remove the lid and cook for another 30 minutes, turning from time to time so that the outside browns slightly. Test to make sure that the veal is cooked. Allow it to cool in its juices.
• Place the tuna and the anchovies in the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Gradually add the olive oil with the motor on until you have a thick sauce. Add the juice of two lemons to thin it out and process until smooth. (If it is too thin, you can add more oil.) Season to taste with salt and pepper. The sauce should have the consistency of a thin mayonnaise.
• Cut the veal in thin slices. Arrange them in one layer (or slightly overlapping) on a large serving platter and pour the sauce over. (You will probably need two dishes.) Cover with clear plastic wrap and let marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
• If using salt capers, soak them in cold water for 20 minutes, and rinse them very well until you have removed as much of the salt as possible. If using capers packed in vinegar, drain and rinse them. Sprinkle the capers over the veal. Slice the remaining lemon and cut the slices in half. Arrange them attractively around the edges of the serving dish. Sprinkle the dish with tarragon leaves and serve.