4 Easy Steps to Scallopini

Above is a version of veal scallopini, this could easily have been made with any meat or any other sauce ingredients.

Cooking Techniques

After you have been cooking for a while, the best thing you can learn is a few techniques that don’t require a recipe necessarily and allows you to experiment with flavors and ingredients.  As long as you know the basics of how to cook something then you can deviate from the books and invent some of your own classics.

I am going to show you one, fail proof technique that you can use with any meat and will make you friends and family go wild with taste euphoria.  I will be featuring techniques more and more this year with everything from basic sauces to specific types of baking, broiling, roasting etc.  So here is number one.

I am not sure what to call it…how about, (whatever meat you choose) scallopini with mashed potatoes.  This can be done in a few easy steps.

The Steps to Scallopini or ‘Impress your Friendsopini’.

Step one: Put your meat between 2 sheets of cling wrap and pound it out using something heavy (I use a meat hammer but you can use a rolling pin, pot, very heavy book etc.) Season chicken (or you can use turkey, pork tenderloin, veal cutlets, fish etc) with salt and pepper. Heat a large non-stick sauté pan over medium heat with about 3 Tbs of olive oil.

Step two:  Get 3 plates ready.  Put 1 cup of flour on one, 3 beaten eggs on one, and 1 cup of breadcrumbs with ½ cup of Parmesan on that last one.

Step three:  Dredge the meat in the flour (shake off the excess), then cover with the egg mixture, then finally coat it in the last plate of bread crumbs.

Step 4:  Cook in the hot oil over medium heat until cooked through, this is why it is good to pound it out, the thinner the meat, the quicker it is to cook all the way through.  Make sure the meat sizzles when it hits the pan.  Put meat on the middle rack of your oven in a warm 200-degree oven. (This way it stays crispy)

Step 5:  In the same sauté pan over low heat, put in some onion, thyme,  (any seasoning you really like) and cook until is smells delightful.  Don’t burn or fry it…just push it around a little.  I used sun-dried tomatoes, shallots, a few anchovies, and roasted garlic.

Step 6:  Wipe out excess olive oil (but not the bits at the bottom and add a bit of wine to deglaze the pan (1/3 cup).  Scrap up all those leftover bits of goodness, sauté as the wine blends with the contents of the pan.  Take the heat up to high and add a cup of chicken stock -let the sauce reduce.

Step 7:  Remove the pan from heat, check for taste and add salt and pepper if necessary.  Take the pan off the heat and add 1 or 2 tbs of butter and a tablespoon of lemon juice.

Step 8:  Place the meat on some mashed potatoes and cover with a good amount of sauce.

Done!

Okay now that you know the details, I am going to simplify it even further to a formula you can remember:

1. Dredge and sauté meat
2. Sauté your spices, herbs and veg green onions, garlic Add fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, etc.
3. Add liquids: Add liquid to aromatics, like chicken broth, lemon, white wine, orange juice, pineapple juice, or balsamic vinegar, what ever you have in your pantry. Turn heat to high and add liquid. Make sure to scrape, deglaze the pan. Reduce the liquid by half.
4. Finish the sauce and pour: turn off the heat, whisk in the butter. Place chicken on potatoes, cooked spinach, pasta… the sky is the limit and pour the sauce over.

DONE!!

Even simpler now:

1. Dredge
2. Sauté
3. Deglaze and add liquids
4. Finish sauce and pour over meat.

This is the technique I used for the recipe above.  I used veal cutlets.

<a title=”Bj Graham on Foodista” href=”http://www.foodista.com/profile/BNPXDZM8/bj-graham”><img alt=”Bj Graham on Foodista” src=”http://dyn.foodista.com/content/embed/b1_BNPXDZM8_1.png?foodista_widget_XPQPJGZ5″ style=”border:none;width:200px;height:40px;” /></a>

Technorati Tags: 4 step scallopini, best mashed potatoes, cooking techniques, easy scallopini, scallopini, veal scallopini

3 Responses to “4 Easy Steps to Scallopini”

1. Billie-Jean says:

   December 17, 2009 at 11:37 am

   so tasty
2. Julie says:

   December 17, 2009 at 8:41 pm

   I love it! it sounds soooo easy that i could do it.
   I like the easy idea without all the measuring recipes!!
   Hope I can try it soon…
3. Billie-Jean says:

   January 13, 2010 at 12:22 pm

   I think I am making this tonight.