There are at least ten veal dishes in our cooking repertoire; this one is the seventh to appear in a blog post. We first made this dish in 2012, the year we bought a whole calf and took the opportunity to test several new veal recipes. This one was inspired by some appealing but typically casual instructions in Maggie Beer’s book. Her dish involved veal shanks; one of our modifications was to use veal neck chops.

The recipe is simple enough but it produces a very satisfying dish. Although the recipe specifies neck chops, you could probably use any cut of veal on the bone; this time, we made it with cutlet-style pieces that Maggie cut from a rack.

Ingredients

4 veal neck chops
3 sprigs rosemary (leaves only), chopped
1 sprig thyme (leaves only), chopped
10 sage leaves, chopped
10 individual cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced thickly
2 tbsp verjuice
100ml veal stock (or chicken stock)
1 small piece preserved lemon (skin only), chopped

Method

1. Gently brown the chops in a little olive oil in an enamelled cast iron casserole. Set chops aside.
2. Add chopped garlic to the pan, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes; add herbs and cook for a further minute. Deglaze the pan with verjuice. Add stock and preserved lemon, stir well; add veal chops and any resting juices. Turn chops to coat well and bring the dish to a simmer. Put the lid on the casserole and place in an oven pre-heated to 150C. Reduce oven temperature after 10-15 minutes if the liquid is simmering rapidly.
3. Cook for about 1 hour, turning chops once or twice, and adding a little water if the sauce is drying out.
4. When the veal is nearly tender, remove casserole lid and bake for a further 10-15 minutes to caramelise the meat.