Veal Escalopes with Chestnuts

ByIvy Liacopoulou
36 Comments
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Escalopes, from the French Escaloppes, (scallop) is a thin slice of boneless meat, from the leg of a veal, cut into thin slices and tenderized with a mallet.

The difference of escalopes vs schnitzel is that escalopes are from the leg of a veal or chicken, whereas schnitzel are from the pork or chicken.

Although they are both breaded and usually cooked the same way, escalope need not necessarily be fried.

Instead of breading the escalopes the usual way, (milk, flour, egg, bread), my recipe is breaded with chestnuts. 

This recipe is perfect if you want to prepare something quick and easy for dinner.

Collage Escaloppes with chestnuts picture

Serve it with mashed or fried potatoes and steamed vegetables for the perfect mid-week meal that the whole family will love. 

Am I superstitious?

Before going to the recipe, I want to tell you about a few bad things that happened this week!

I am not a person who believes in astrology nor do I listen to zodiacs on T.V. or read them in magazines and newspapers

However, I wonder if we had a retrogade Hermes (Mercury) this past week or maybe it was a "kako mati", (evil eye) as we say in Greece, as some superstitious people would say? 

But then I don't believe in that either.   

However, everything seems to be going wrong this week. 

My computer got affected with a virus again and all this week it's been shutting down every now and then and I didn't get much work done. 

After transferring my data to a portable hard disc and removing the virus, I installed Office 2007, and I am trying to learn some of its new features.

When editing my recipes, some documents I am working on do not work well.  

I also have to convert all the recipes into PDFs and I don't even want to think about that yet.

Then my computer suddenly started shutting down again without any warning.

Now I am terrified that if anything happens to the hard disc I have no backup whatsoever for my recipes.  I am now considering buying a new laptop.

Enough with my bad lack and now to a recipe I have made during the holidays. 

Back to the recipe

I've been cooking a lot with chestnuts lately as I had bought a few kilos a few weeks ago.   

I boiled and peeled them and stored them in the deep freezer. 

I did this last year as well and had chestnuts until a couple of months ago.

One of the recipes I made during the holidays was escalopes with chestnuts in a brandy and orange sauce. 

Veal cutlets before cooking image

To start with I was planning to make another recipe with the round veal so I did not ask the butcher to cut it for me. 

How I made the escalopes

I cut the meat myself into thin slices and then I thinned it with a mallet. 

Pounding the meat with a mallet image

I then prepared a spice mixture which I powdered in an electric spice grinder and used part of it to season the meat.  

Spices used in escalopes image

I then coated the escalopes with milk and flour and then with egg and a second coating with ground chestnuts.

ground chestnuts image

I sautéed the escalopes on both sides and removed them from the sautéing pan. 

I then sautéed the onion and mushrooms and returned the escalopes in the pan and deglazed the dish with brandy and a red dry Cypriot wine.

I then added, orange juice and orange zest as well as some whole chestnuts and cooked the escalopes in the juices, which thickened into a sauce.

I served the escalopes with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables and with the chestnut sauce I made and enjoyed it with a Cypriot Red Shiraz wine, of Fikardos Winery in Paphos.

I hope to bring back some with me next week as I shall be going to Cyprus this week to visit my sisters. 

Until then take care!

Escalopes with chestnuts picture

Veal Escaloppes with Chestnuts in a brandy and orange sauce

Yield: 8
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

Escalopes, from the French Escaloppes, (scallop) is a thin slice of boneless meat, from the leg of a veal, cut into thin slices and tenderized with a mallet.

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Ingredients

  • 1.200 grams veal cutlets (8 slices)
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped,
  • 3 big button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
  • ½ cup flour for dredging veal
  • ½ cup breadcrumbs
  • Extra salt
  • 300 grams chestnuts, peeled and boiled (reserve 10 whole ones)
  • ½ cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup brandy Metaxa
  • ½ cup red dry wine
  • 1 tablespoon orange zest
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 1 cup water
  • (10 whole chestnuts)

Spice mixture

  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 tablespoon pepper flakes (boukovo)
  • 1 teaspoon various peppercorns
  • ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt

Steamed vegetables:

  • 5 artichokes
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 1 cup mixed vegetables
  • Mashed potatoes

Instructions

  1. Prepare the spice mix in an electric spice grinder and set aside 
  2. In the same grinder add the frozen chestnuts, a few at a time with a couple of tablespoons dried breadcrumbs and powder the chestnuts.
  3. Sauté the mushrooms with a couple tablespoons of olive oil and set aside.
  4. Ask your butcher to cut thin cutlets or cut them yourselves, about 1 cm thick and then pound them with a mallet 
  5. Wash the meat and pat dry  Season with salt and part of the spice mixture. (about 1 tablespoon).
  6. Dip each piece of meat in the milk and then in the flour  Beat the egg and dip each one in the egg and then in the powdered chestnuts.
  7. Heat the remaining olive oil and sauté the escalopes on both sides  Remove to a platter.
  8. Sauté the onion until translucent and add the escalopes again  Deglaze with the brandy and red wine 
  9. Add the orange juice and orange rind as well as the whole chestnuts  Add water and cook for about ten minutes  A few minutes before it is ready add the mushrooms.
  10. Serve with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables.

Notes

The sauce thickens without having to add anything else 

Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 453Total Fat 19gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 14gCholesterol 60mgSodium 458mgCarbohydrates 54gFiber 9gSugar 10gProtein 13g

Did you make this recipe?

Tried this recipe? Tag me @ivyliac and use the hashtag #kopiaste!

© Ivy Liacopoulou
Cuisine: Greek Cuisine / Category: Veal or Beef

Chestnut Recipes

If you love chestnuts, check out some more recipes using chestnuts.

Collage Veal Escalopes with chestnuts image

Kopiaste and Kali Orexi!

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36 Comments

  2. I do hope your computer has anti-virus software - not the free kind. You get what you pay for. Hopefully this is your last virus.

    Veal, wine, mushrooms, chestnuts all sound divine with brandy. Perhaps you can make this dish for family in Cyprus.

    Kalo taxidi and taste some more Cypriot wines...little known about them.

  3. Sounds delicious! I really need to get more familiar with chestnuts, this is a perfect way to start! Thank you -LeslieMichele

  13. hi Ivy
    hope you will have all your stuff back ! personnally I have put everything on 2 different usb keys !!
    i also love chestnuts either in cooking or in pastries !!
    have a good day ! here in Paris it is cold ! Pierre

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