Crown Rack of Veal
One of the most elegant ways of serving meat is in a crown roast. This crown, served in a bed of spinach with carrot julienne, is filled with a smoky oyster stuffing.
Ingredients
- Veal Loin - 2, Frenched and tied into a crown roast by the butcher
- Unsalted Butter - 3 ounces, melted
- Breadcrumbs - 1 cup
- Romano cheese - 1/4 cup, grated
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Carrot - 1, chopped
- Onion - 1, chopped
- Bones and meat trimmings from the veal
- Wine or Water - 1/2 cup
- Stuffing
- Hog Jowl - 1/4 pound, chopped
- Onion - 1/4 cup, chopped
- Oysters - 18, quartered
- Oyster Liquor (liquid from the fresh oysters) - 1/4 cup
- Bread Crumbs - 1 cup, soaked in milk
- Eggs - 4
- Parsley - 2 tablespoons, minced
- Scallions - 2 tablespoons, minced
- Beef Stock - 1/2 cup
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Unsalted Butter - 2 tablespoons
- Fresh Spinach - 2 handfuls, stemmed and blanched
- Carrots - 4, pared and julienned, blanched
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Lemon - 1, cut into thin discs
- Black Olives - 4
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place the roast in a roasting pan and put a small heatproof bowl in the center of the roast to preserve its shape. Fill the bowl with water. Brush the meat with melted butter. Mix the breadcrumbs and Romano cheese together, then press onto the roast. Season with salt and pepper. Put the carrots, onions, and any bones and trimmings into the pan with the wine and/or water. Roast for 1-1/2 hours, adding wine or water as necessary to keep the pan juices liquefied.
While the meat is roasting, prepare the stuffing: Cook the hog jowl slowly in a skillet to render the fat. Remove any solids that remain. Add the onion and cook until transparent. Add the oysters and their liquor and cook to reduce the liquid by one third. Squeeze the milk from the breadcrumbs and add the breadcrumbs to the pan. Whisk the eggs with the parsley and scallions and add to the stuffing. Mix in the beef stock and cook for 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
When the roast is done, remove from the oven. Take the bowl out of the cavity and put the stuffing in its place. Set aside.
Drain excess oil from the roasting pan. Strain the pan juices into a saucepan and simmer to reduce until slightly thickened.
Heat one tablespoon of the butter in each of 2 saute pans. Put the spinach in one pan and the carrots in the other. Saute until heated through, tossing the vegetables in the butter. Season with salt and pepper.
To serve: Place the crown roast in the center of a serving platter and remove any ties. Place a frilled cap on the end of each bone. Arrange spinach around the roast; arrange carrot julienne on the spinach. Garnish with lemon discs and whole olives. Carve and serve at the table.
