After purchasing some nice looking veal cutlets at the market, I thought
about making classic Veal Marsala for dinner. With the right ingredients,
this is one very quick and easy meal to prepare that’s usually a big
success in our house even with the kids. Problem was I didn’t have
one important ingredient – Marsala wine.

Hard to believe I couldn’t find any Marsala wine in the house but I
did find a bottle of Madeira, a fortified wine that comes from Portugal.
There are different styles of Madeira, from a pale blond color to a
deep tawny red and very dry to very sweet.

What is Madeira Wine?

Madeira’s are usually drunk as aperitifs and dessert wines depending on their
dryness and sweetness, but I typically use them only for cooking. In
my pantry, there were two bottles of Madeira. One was an inexpensive
California version and the other a more expensive Sandeman Fine Rich
product from Madeira Portugal.

There is no comparison in taste between the two. The Madeira from
Portugal is worth the extra bucks, but both will work for this recipe.
If you are interested in learning more about the various tastes of Madeira
wine, there is a good site called MadeiraWineGuide.

Another Important Ingredient

The other important ingredient to this dish is demi-glace, a richly
concentrated brown stock that has been reduced to a glaze. Also
used to make classic chicken and veal Marsala, demi-glace is one of
those ingredients that are hard to make at home because you have to
start with pounds of beef and veal bones that have been roasted and
then simmered for hours and hours in a huge pot. If you’re not careful
and you burn the stock while it’s reducing, you might as well throw
the whole batch out.

Not that I’m suggesting you don’t try making it yourself. You
can find a recipe for making demi-glace at home at GatewayGourmet.
I’ve made it at home a few times and it was an interesting experience
but I’d much rather use one of the commercial products you can find
on the market today. One I really like is Demi Glace Gold and you may
have heard me rave about it in some of my other recipes.

Can you make this recipe without the demi-glace? Sure, I have a recipe
for Chicken Marsala that excludes the demi-glace and you can just
substitute the Madeira for the Marsala and the veal for the chicken.

The results are good but not the same as when you make it with
real demi-glace. And please avoid the fake stuff you can purchase in
an envelope at the supermarket. That artificial alternative is just beef
bouillon, salt, sugar and a bunch of chemicals.

Artichoke Hearts

This addition was my wife’s idea. The kids wanted sautéed artichokes
with their dinner so my wife opened up a can of artichoke hearts in
water, rinsed them well in cold water, squeezed out the excess water
and then sautéed them in a little olive oil and butter. We served the
artichokes separately to the kids but added them to the sauce for us.

Two points. One, only use jarred or canned artichoke hearts in water
not oil. You can’t get the unpleasant flavor of the oil out of the artichoke.
Second, be sure to rinse the artichokes well before using. We have
tried sautéing them without a good rinse and you could still taste the
preservatives in the water and the kids wouldn’t eat them. Fresh artichoke
hearts is better yet but a lot more work.

Chicken Marsala Perfected

By the way, I have written an eCookbook called Chicken Marsala Perfected
that you can download to your computer and might be interested in. It’s
more that a recipe for chicken Marsala but a cooking lesson for sautéing
anything just like a professional chef. The recipe was given to me from
Chef Ricco who you see in my blog and Ask A Chef feature. It’s filled
with tips and techniques for making this classic dish as well as veal and
steak Marsala and gives you the technique for making dozens of pan sauces.

Veal Madeira with Artichoke Hearts
Serves 2 adults and 2 kids

Shopping List:
1-tablespoon butter
1-tablespoon oil
6 veal cutlets
1 cup of all-purpose flour seasoned with salt and pepper
1 medium shallot, minced
1 - 14 1/2 oz. can artichoke hearts in water;washed, rinced and drained
¼ cup of Madeira
½ cup of demi glace
Salt and white pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of butter for mounting

1. Have all your ingredients prepped before you begin to cook.
2. Pre-heat your sauté pan.
3. Dredge each cutlet in seasoned flour and shake off any excess.
4. Add one third of the oil & butter to the pan.
5. Sauté 2 of the veal cutlets, one minute per side, remove, & reserve.
6. Add another 1/3-tablespoon of butter and oil to the pan and sauté
the next two veal cutlets, remove & reserve. And then do the same
for the final 2 cutlets.
7. Reduce heat to medium, then add shallot, artichoke hearts, salt and pepper
and cook for 1 or 2 minutes, stirring constantly so nothing burns.
8. Remove the pan from the heat, add the Madeira wine and reduce by half.
9. Add demi glace; reduce until the sauce will coat the back of a spoon, taste
& correct seasonings.
10. Finish with the cold pat of butter.
11. Add the veal cutlets back to the pan for 1 minute to reheat it and serve.

I served this with my daughter’s favorite Near East rice pilaf, a staple in our
house. That girl could eat rice pilaf every night so you are going to see it in a
lot of my photographs. We also served a salad and I think a 2004 Chalone
Vineyard Syrah that was absolutely fantastic.