A perfect meal to eat curled up on the couch with a good book or shared with family and friends on a winter’s night. 
After a morning spent bike riding, scrambling over playground equipment and racing around with the family dog, the children were famished and talk had turned not only to lunch, but dinner as well! My children are often two meals ahead in their thinking which I should find comforting I suppose, because at least it shows they have healthy and appreciative appetites. Although sometimes I groan inwardly as I haven’t even cast a thought towards the midday meal let alone the family’s evening feast. 

Today however, I had figured out the menus well before breakfast, including throwing in an apple crumble for dessert. I followed my recipe posted on May 26th Fibre Filled Fragrant Apple Crumble for this dish. 

Lunch was a speedy but tasty dish that I call School Holiday Pasta. It is essentially a couple of crushed garlic cloves, a medium grated zucchini, about 200 grams of leg ham sliced into thin strips and all sautéed together with a splash of olive oil for about 10 minutes. This is then tossed thorough 500 grams of cooked, hot pasta of your choice – I used farfalle today – with a 410 gram tin of corn kernels, about 100 ml cream and 100 grams of grated parmesan, a grind of pepper and salt. Ordinarily I would include a photograph but by the time I had retrieved my camera, my hungry tribe had already started to wolf down this dish. I was tempted to include a shot of an empty bowl save for a few specks of ham, but that would be like offering someone the remains of a cupcake without the icing.

This shot of our delicious dinner was taken before I called everyone to the table – a much better strategy. I used the recipe for polenta posted on June 27th Velvety Potato Polenta and also stirred through a couple of tablespoons of sour cream. Yes, yes I used the full fat version because my low cholesterol levels allow me to indulge a little, but you may prefer light sour cream if unsure about how your arteries would hold up. 

Stringless beans are so crisp and flavoursome at the moment that I only had to blanch these for 4 minutes in a pot of boiling salted water. Once drained, I drizzled through a touch of olive oil and the juice of an orange. It perfectly complimented the rosemary and fennel flavoured veal. 


Soft and Succulent Rosemary Scented Veal with Fennel and Baby Carrots


Ingredients
Extra virgin olive oil
1 x large brown onion finely diced
6 x cloves garlic crushed
1 large fennel bulb, including the delicate green fronds diced into 2 cm pieces
8 – 10 baby carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally into thirds
small handful fresh rosemary leaves
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 kg veal chuck cut into 4 – 5 cm pieces (ask your friendly butcher to do this for you to save time and your fingers)
2 tablespoons plain flour
250 ml sweet white wine
250 ml chicken stock

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees fan forced. 

Over a low heat setting, warm up about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, cast iron pot (I used my trusty Le Creuset) or deep heatproof casserole dish. Add the onions, garlic, fennel, rosemary and carrots along with the sea salt. Sauté gently for about 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Do NOT hurry this stage. This slow sauté process will result in a sweet, caramelised and glossy looking flavour base for your veal as shown in the photo below. 


Once the mixture has deepened in colour, remove to a clean bowl or plate and add another splash of olive oil. Increase the temperature to medium-high and brown the veal. I do this in 4 batches, adding half a tablespoon of flour to each batch as soon as the pink meat develops a light brown hue. Remove the browned meat to the same bowl holding the caramelised vegetables. Splash in a little more olive oil before browning the next batch. 

Pour in the wine and chicken stock and bring to the boil briefly for 60 seconds to burn off the alcohol. Add back the meat and vegetables and stir to combine. 

Clamp on the lid and place in the oven for 2.5 hours.  

This dish can be served with potatoes, polenta or steamed rice and vegetables. It’s an excellent dish to make when catering for a crowd and can even be made a day ahead then warmed up on the stove. Leftovers can also be frozen for up to 1 month.