Veal Stew

My version of veal stew is a bit different because first of all, I don't use a tomato base of any kind and secondly, I discovered a little tweak that I thought added a certain sweetness to the stew that I really liked. I had some leftover sweet potato that I had mashed for another purpose and simply stirred it into the veal stew as a thickening agent rather than flour or cornstarch and it turned out to be delicious.

Veal stew is a wonderful evening meal or makes great lunch fare. Serve with a green salad for dinner and maybe some biscuits or rolls.

You can substitute regular veal stew meat for the chops as it is more convenient, but I found that using the veal chop yielded a more tender cut as opposed to the usual toughness of veal stew meat. By chopping the veal from the chops myself, it also gave me smaller pieces of veal which was also a difference than the more chunked size of veal stew meat (although of course you can cut that down in size as well).

INGREDIENTS

• 1-2 veal chops (bone in)
• 1/3 cup flour (optional - see below)
• Drizzled olive oil (or cooking spray) in bottom of soup pot
• 1 small onion chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• Salt, pepper
• 5-6 carrots, peeled, sliced
• 4-5 red or yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed, skin on/off - cut into small pieces
• 2-3 celery stalks cut into small pieces (substitute mushrooms 1/2-3/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup sherry (or substitute white wine or marsala)
• 3 cups of chicken, beef, or vegetable broth
• 1 cup of frozen peas
• 1/2 cup mashed, cooked sweet potato (substitute yam or squash)
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon thyme (can substitute marjoram or use a blend of half/half)
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon tarragon

PREPARATION

1. Cut meat off the chops. Trim any fat though doing it this way, the meat was very lean.
2. Take chunks of meat and dredge them lightly in flour with salt and pepper added if desired. Set aside.
3. Turn soup pot heat to medium and add onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat until onion softens. Remove and set aside.
4. Drizzle a little more olive oil or use more cooking spray to brown the veal just until browned on one side. Turn over and repeat on other side. (You can also just brown the meat without flouring especially with meat from the veal chop)
5. Return onions and garlic to pan with meat.
6. Add sherry or wine, add broth or water to cover.  Simmer gently for about 30-60 minutes until meat is beginning to get tender.
7. Add herbs, carrots, potatoes and celery.
8. Add more broth or water to cover.
9. Reduce heat and gently cook/simmer until potatoes are crisp tender.
10. Add the remainder of broth (add more if desired to have more broth).
11. Add frozen peas at end as they will not require much cooking.
12. Stir in the mashed sweet potato and allow to cook a bit longer.
13. If thicker stew is desired, add a little cornstarch mixed with water or more mashed sweet potato.

Great with a green salad and biscuits or rolls.