Dinner: Slow-Cooked Veal Grillades

Recipe by /contributors/john-besh Editor's note: Serve this veal with Chef John Besh's Jalapeño Cheese Grits . Grillades is a Creole version of pot roast; the meat is sliced or pounded thin, then slow-cooked in a pungent sauce. If veal shoulder isn't ava

Ingredients

4 pounds boneless veal shoulder, sliced into thin cutlets
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons Basic Creole Spices
1/4 cup rendered bacon fat
1 large onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups canned whole plum tomatoes, drained, seeded, and diced
2 cups Basic Veal Stock
Leaves from 1 sprig fresh thyme
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
Tabasco
2 green onions, chopped

Instructions

Season the veal cutlets with salt and pepper. Whisk the flour together with the Creole Spices in a medium bowl. Dredge the cutlets in the seasoned flour and shake off excess. Reserve a tablespoon of seasoned flour.
Melt the bacon fat in a large skillet over high heat. Fry the cutlets, several at a time, until golden brown on both sides. Take care not to overcrowd the skillet. Remove cutlets from skillet and continue to cook in batches until all the veal has been browned. Set the veal aside while you continue making the sauce.
Reduce the heat to medium-high, add the onions to the same skillet, and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until they are a deep mahogany color, about 20 minutes. Add the celery, bell pepper, and garlic, reduce the heat to moderate, and continue cooking, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the 1 tablespoon of reserved seasoned flour into the skillet and stir to mix it into the vegetables.
Increase heat to high, stir in the tomatoes and Veal Stock, and cook until it comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to moderate and stir the thyme, pepper flakes, bay leaf, and Worcestershire into the vegetables. Add the veal cutlets, cover, and simmer until the veal is fork tender, about 45 minutes.
Season with salt, pepper, and Tabasco, then add the green onions. Serve over creamy Jalapeño Cheese Grits .