Recipe: Hazelnut-Pink Peppercorn Crusted Veal Slices with Oktoberfest-Brown Butter Glaze

the appetizer:

Think of German cuisine and you probably think of sausages, sauerkraut and beer. But Germany's central location in Europe has made it a melting pot of culinary influences, from Italian pasta to the popular Döner kebab invented by Turkish immigrants.

Germany

Hazelnut-Pink Peppercorn Crusted Veal Slices
with Oktoberfest-Brown Butter Glaze

8 slices veal scallopini (total weight about 1 lb.)
1/2 cup whole hazelnuts, skins on
1 tablespoon pink peppercorns
1/4 cup minced parsley
1 tablespoon flour

Glaze:
3 oz. salted butter
2 oz. Oktoberfest beer

Place hazelnuts, pink peppercorns, parsley and flour in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel cutting blade. Pulverize into a coarse meal. Press the seasoned nut-flour blend into the surface of the sliced veal, coating both sides of each slice.

Place a nonstick skillet (8-10 inches diameter, to accommodate the width of each slice) over medium heat, and sear each slice of veal, until the nut-flour crust is golden brown. Do not cook through, but place each browned slice in a shallow baking dish.

After browning all the veal slices, place in 300 degree F. oven for 4-10 minutes, to cook through (depends on thickness of veal slices; a 1/4-inch thick slice should cook through in just 4-5 minutes).

Prepare the glaze: brown the butter in the same sauté skillet, and pour through a fine mesh sieve to remove any browned bits. Whisk in the Oktoberfest beer, stirring constantly until an emulsion forms, and pour over the veal slices in the baking dish.

Return to oven to warm through, season with salt if desired, and serve with spatzle or buttered noodles.

From:
Cooking with Beer
Taste-Tempting Recipes and Creative Ideas for Matching Beer & Food
by Lucy Saunders
Time-Life Books, $12.95
154 pages, 1996
ISBN 0-7835-4832-X
Reprinted by permision.