Veal Cutlets with Braised Lettuce

Ingredients

2-4 veal cutlets

2 tbsp butter

450g peas in the pod

675g broad beans in the pod

2 little gem lettuces

Water or chicken stock

Sprig of tarragon

4 tbsp crème fraiche

Method

Dry the veal chops on kitchen paper or a tea towel.  Heat a large frying pan and melt 1 tbsp of the butter.  Once foaming, add the veal chops and cook over a medium heat, turning once, until golden on each side.  Lower the heat and continue cooking for about ten minutes until cooked to medium rare.  Put the chops on a plate and keep warm.

Meanwhile, shell the peas and broad beans.  Put the broad beans in a bowl and cover with boiling water.  Leave for two minutes, then drain and cool under a cold tap.  Break the grey-green skins on the beans with your fingernail and pop out the bright green kernel within.  Throw away the skins and add the kernels to the peas.

Cut the little gems in half lengthways.  Heat the rest of the butter in another frying pan and add the lettuce, cut side down, and fry until just turning golden brown.  Turn over, and add the peas and beans.  Splash in a glassful of water or chicken stock, add the leaves from the tarragon and simmer gently until the peas and beans are almost cooked and the lettuce is tender but not slimy.  There should be almost no liquid left.

Stir the crème fraiche into the veal chop pan, cooking over a low heat and scraping up all the residue.  Tip the cream into the pan with the lettuce and peas.  Shake the pan to amalgamate the mixture, and season to taste.  Carve the veal off the bone (if you are sharing chops) or give everyone a whole chop, with half a lettuce, the peas, beans and sauce.

Source: Xanthe Clay, Daily Telegraph July 2010

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