Vitello Tonnato (Page 451)

RECIPE #1220
Date: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 -- 6pmLocation: East Lansing, MIKitchen: Our HouseDining Companion: Matty, Vigleik, Henrik, and ShihchiRecipe Rating: C+

I saw a veal loin roast at a nearby butcher shop and I grabbed it so I could make this recipe! I started by poaching the veal in chicken stock, white wine, carrot, celery, onion, parsley, bay leaf, and salt. Meanwhile I made the sauce for the dish by pureeing together canned tuna in oil, anchovy fillets, mayonnaise, olive oil, capers, and lemon juice. I carved the veal, sauced it, then refrigerated the dish for more than 8 hours to let the flavors mingle. My issue with this dish wasn't that it tasted bad -- the flavor actually wasn't terrible. My issue was that I just couldn't understand why you would do this with a perfectly lovely piece of veal. Serving veal cold (Cold!) with a sauce made of pureed tuna and anchovies just didn't seem like the right thing to do. I can imagine a version of this dish that would have been served warm, and although it might not have been my favorite, at least I would have understood it. As it was, pretty much anything I could have imagined making from that veal roast would have been better than this dish. My special gentleman called this dish a "travesty." I won't be making it again.

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One of the many nice things about owning a house with plenty of room is that lots of people come visit us! Last weekend our friend Grant came from Milwaukee for a night, this weekend my parents are here, on Thursday our friend Josh arrives for a week, the weekend after that my special gentleman's parents will visit, and a couple weeks after that my brother-in-law and sister-in-law Brad and Deniz are coming! My special gentleman and I both love having company, so it is exciting to have so many people coming to visit!

We have had a really fun weekend with my parents. They arrived Friday afternoon and on Friday evening we had a dinner party with food from The Book. There is a recipe for buffalo standing rib roast in The Book, which I decided to make for this occasion. It's a big cut of meat and not so easy to find, but I was able to order it from Wyoming. We made a huge meal -- even with 10 people eating we had plenty of leftovers! It was fun, and my parents got to meet a few of the people we know here in East Lansing. On Saturday we made a nice breakfast and lunch, and I showed my parents my two offices on campus. In the afternoon my special gentleman and my dad went to the MSU/Wisconsin football game. My mom and I went shopping instead! We all met up for some yummy Mexican food and margaritas after the game. Today we had a nice relaxing day: church, followed by a huge brunch in Lansing. In the afternoon my dad watched the Packers on TV while my mom and I did a bit more shopping. This evening we ate popcorn for dinner and watched the documentary "Babies," which was pretty cute.

It was a fun weekend! My parents are heading back to Wisconsin tomorrow morning. But in just a few days Josh will arrive! What fun (and busy!) times!