breaded veal with bitter greens and pickled shallots

(I made this while I was in France and had access to amazing daily farmer’s markets)

ok… so I woke up this morning thinking, no, rather obsessing about breaded veal with bitter greens dressed with lemon and olive oil, marked by pickled onions and soothed by a sharp parmesean cheese. This is a very classic dish that I’m sure you have had before or seen before… but I think the difference lies in the ingredients I opted to use… (you can use chicken here too if you are opposed to veal, which is a necessary byproduct of the dairy industry… but that’s a soapbox for a different day)

ok… so…

I hit the market this morning and let me note here that I will address markets in a separate note… there is a lot to cover on that topic alone. I was very targeted in what I wanted, which is a change for me as I usually buy what looks good and put something together on the fly…. I wanted a ripe tomato and got two. I wanted rocket, got that along with some mache and mesculin mix. I found a lovely shallot which I opted for over an onion…. where is that cheese guy with the parm? Ah… there he is.. I got a block of parm for 6 euro… that would have cost me at least 20usd and was so outstanding… it makes my mouth water just thinking about it. I decided to get some olives to snack on later as well… and some flowers to make my apartment pretty for a few days…
Next stop the butcher: I opted to get enough meat to last the weekend, only because this place is CRAZY on a saturday. Often the wait is an hour in line just to get a chicken breast… no line=buy enough to last a few days…

the recipe:
first I pickled the shallots and let them sit for a few hours…
one shallot, thinly sliced (either use a mandolin or knife it if you have good skills)
in a small bowl combine:
two TBS of vinegar
1 tsp of honey
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbs water
one garlic clove crushed
two red chile peppers
fresh ground pepper
Combine everything except the shallots and taste.. it should taste like a pickle brine. adjust to your liking, and microwave until it boils, about 2 minutes…add the sliced shallots and stir around until well coated, cover and stick it in the fridge.

for the veal:
1 egg
plain bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
dijon mustard
yogurt (or milk)
olive oil
make an egg batter and breadcrumb mix
(I used 1 egg, a tps of dijon mustard, salt and yogurt..I had no milk and thinned it a bit with some water) and plain breadcrumbs seasoned with fresh pepper and a bit of salt

Heat olive oil in a pan, coat veal scallop in egg wash, then breadcrumbs… fry in olive oil until to your degree of doneness… golden brown is a good color to shoot for. drain on paper towels

For the rocket:
grab a handful, squeeze a lemon wedge over the greens, grind some fresh pepper lay the pickled shallots on top and drizzle a bit of olive oil on top.

Slice ripe tomato and dress it with salt and pepper….

to assemble
arrange tomatoes on the plate, place veal and the greens on top… add more lemon juice if you like and crumble the parm on top…