Veal Flaming The Vines of Temecula!

We are doing our first wine weekend for MOOD WINE... YAY.

11 guests, two houses, limo rides, wine tasting, pool party, wine dinner... I'm exhausted already... BUT IN A GOOD WAY...

The Weekend Plans

So, I have to cook a wine paired dinner on Saturday night... my good friend Jack Ford of TAJ farms is providing the humanely raise veal chops and a goat's milk, basil infused gelato for the meal...

Jack Ford

Jack is one of my favorite people ever! He has an amazing farm where he respects the lives of all his animals. Yes he raises meat for eating, but the animals on his farm have a fantastic life and his passion for sustainable, organic, and humane practices is damn cool! I will blogging about him much more as we roll into fall, he is the KING of Heritage Birds - Chicken, Turkey, Duck, etc.

Oh, sorry, I need to get back on task. I'm cooking the wine dinner for the guests of Flame the Vines... and I'm using Jack's humanely raised veal. So I need to practice.

Wanna see what I did?

I took the Cowboy Steaks he gave me and played.

I started with my sauce:

Cremini Mushroom Brandy Cream Sauce with Currants...

Shallots and Garlic sauteed in Butter

I sauteed the shallots and garlic and then added sliced cremini mushrooms... love that I can get them pre-sliced....

Stirring Mushrooms into sauteed Shallots and Garlic

Needless to say, I skipped several steps, but I also added brandy, some red wine, currants, and tarragon... 

Ready to finish

I finished it with cream and some salt and pepper to adjust the seasonings...

Sauce ready to go

And now for the Veal... I simply rubbed it with olive oil and dusted it with grey salt and cracked green and black peppercorns... 

Veal Chops ready to hit the grill

I grilled them medium rare... 

Almost there!

And finished them with the mushroom, brandy sauce....

Veal with Brandy Mushroom Cream Sauce

Stay-tuned, we will be blogging all weekend on the happenings of our first official Mood Wine weekend outing... HOPEFULLY THE FIRST OF MANY!!!