Meadow Veal
I've had a request to post a veal recipe, but veal is a bit of a sticky wicket for farmers. It is a necessary by-product of the dairy industry or an overstocked pasture, but it seems to have gotten a bad rap because of the people who try to achieve the perfect white of an anemic and sickly calf. I absolutely agree that animals should have an excellent quality of life, but like other farmer's I have always understood the need for slaughtering the occasional "milk beef" or "meadow veal". Yet there is simply no need to torment the calf.
For us meadow veal is only a special order item for folks who request it. Our calves live in the pasture with their family groups and nibble grass or anything else they like. Of course they get lots of milk from their moms. The meat is a deep rose color, very tender and succulent. Its unique character results from the combination of rich milk and a varied diet of grasses and wild herbs. It works well in traditional veal recipes as well as normal beef recipes as long as you keep the seasonings mild.
Many years ago I was visiting a friend in Paris. Her mom was a fairly poor cook but had one specialty that always pleased guests, Veal Normandy. It's a simple dish but will impress the snootiest of your foodie friends.
Meadow Veal Normandy
Ingredients:
Any meadow veal steak
Butter
Wine (Sancerre is traditional, but a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is always a good choice.)
1/2 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
1/2 teaspoon thyme
Salt & white pepper to taste
Pan fry any meadow veal steak in butter. Deglaze the skillet with a splash of Sancerre or New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Reduce the wine by 2/3. Add a bit of sour cream or creme fraiche to the skillet and remove instantly from heat. Season with thyme, salt and white pepper. Pour the sauce over the veal. This dish is especially good with oven roasted new potatoes and asparagus.
Posted by Stokes Family Farm at 2/24/2010 8:35 PM 
Categories: Recipe
Tags: grass fed beef meadow veal
Categories: Recipe
Tags: grass fed beef meadow veal
The only reason I have a negative reaction to this recipe and post is because my grandparents also always had a few calves that were raised for veal. I bottle fed them and named them and was always heart broken to discover they were gone upon my next visit. I was 15 before I discovered what was happening. I have not eaten veal since and will not.
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I completely understand your response Sandy, and I would not try to force meadow veal on you or anyone else. For us it is a special order item and usually results from a need to reduce the animal load on a pasture quickly. But I can add that as long as there have been farmers, there have been farmers who could not bring themselves to eat their animals. I actually knew of one beef farmer who was a vegetarian. True, sustainable farms require the interaction of livestock with pastures to build fertility. It's the way the Earth works. And those animals need to contribute to the financial survival of the farm. Whether to eat meat/veal or not is a personal decision, but I think we can all agree that the quality of life of every animal is important. Our animals are not bottle fed nor held in a stall to keep their meat soft and white. They live in the pasture and experience every minute of their own cow-ness, hence the term "meadow veal".
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