A Very Nice and Profitable Piece of Meat

Apparently March in Glasgow "is the season when veal is getting to be plentiful and good." Mrs. Black is clearly a fan. The first two recipes in her little booklet are for a nice rolled veal and the accompanying veal soup.  Yum.

In her words: "Purchase a piece of the breast of veal, about 6 inches broad and rather longer, 3 or 4 lbs. weight, and take out the bones. Place it on a table with the skin downwards, and make the following stuffing:-2 oz. of fat bacon ham chopped up, a thick slice of bread grated, a little pepper and salt, and either a very little milk or an egg. Mix this altogether, moistening it with the egg beaten up or the milk, spread it on the veal, which roll up rather tightly, and tie the roll securely with a piece of string. Then rub a little flour all over the outside. Put into a sauce-pan a good teaspoonful of dripping, and make it quite hot; fry and onion in it till it becomes brown; afterwards fry the roll of veal all over the outside. When this is done, put in 1 breakfast-cupful of water, put on the lid, and stew slowly for one hour and a half. Then take off the strings, dish the meat, and pour the gravy over it. This is really a very nice and profitable piece of meat, as it can be used either hot or cold, and the bones can also be used to make soup with." 

Disregarding the fact that I have a major problem with veal for ethical reasons, I could probably ask the butchers at Whole Foods (or preferably an independent butcher shop that can offer a little more moral support) for 4 pounds of bone-in veal. I'm sure it is no longer the bargain it was in 1884. I also hope that the veal calves of the 1880s were more family farm raised and not subjected to the stress torture of a modern American factory farm. As for boning the veal - don't you love how there are no instructions for how to manage that process? Eeek! The stuffing seems a little bland, but nothing wrong with bacon. I might add some celery, an onion and a handful of parsley. A little fry up and braise isn't all bad, right? But I missed how a breakfast cupful of water and some meat drippings qualify as "gravy." Ah well. Times have changed. 

Here's a link to a more modern recipe for stuffed veal from the lovely folks at Epicurious. This one suggests roasting for 2 1/2 hours in a 350 degree oven with a stuffing that includes chicken livers. I'm not sure I'm up for trying out either version, but you  might keep it in mind for a special occasion.