Cooking On DeVoe: breading up with gravy

In keeping with getting ready for the holidays, I decided that I needed to brush up on breading. That is what I am saying. Truth be told I saw the veal cutlets and could not contain myself. I love, love, love veal cutlets, well I like any kind of veal, it does not matter, I like it all. I tempered it with chicken cutlets. I took my Mom to Livoti's Old World Market, on Sunday, she and I really like that store. I still go to Pastosa's for many things but there are things that they don't have that Livoti's does. Livoti's makes the greatest Pesto Orzo Salad and Pastosa's ravioli is the best.

Back to the cutlets, yeah they were pretty awesome. We occasionally have fried cutlets, maybe three or four times a year, so they are a delicious treat. All I had swimming around my head was breaded and fried cutlets with mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy. Just thinking about it made my mouth water. While it is true that I will make pork cutlets for Christmas and that is not too far off, the veal was reaching out and beckoning me. I just had to, it was beyond my control.

I started the gravy by chopping up some pancetta, then I sauteed shallots and garlic, sliced the mushrooms, and cooked all until tender. I added a few tablespoons of flour, stirred until it was cooked, then added a few cups of veal stock. I brought it to a low boil, moved it to a back burner on a low flame, and let it simmer til it was thick and yummy. I seasoned it as I was going along.

I was breading the cutlets while the gravy happily bubbling on the stove.

I borrowed Andrew's large cast iron skillet to cook the cutlets in. He was ok with that, and said that he was glad that I used it. I should have used it a few months ago when I made something. I don't remember what it was, but it was a crowed pan. His pan is ginormous.