In the last newsletter I mentioned drawing a blank in my search for a recipe for Veal Francese. Kaye Noble very kindly sent me lots of information, which I have taken the liberty of editing slightly and am passing on:

"I thought you might appreciate this information on Chicken Francese and Veal Francese, a dish that I remember enjoying at upscale NYC Italian restaurants during the late 50s and early 60s.

"David Rosengarten, restaurant critic for Gourmet and author of the Dean & Deluca Cookbook, hosts a TV cooking show called Taste on the Food TV Network in the States. For one of the shows he did in 1997, which repeats from time to time, he did an extensive search among Italian and American cookbooks for Veal Francese (and Chicken Francese), dishes that became popular at Italian restaurants in the States in the 1950s. However, he found no recipes. On the program, he surmised the dishes were an Italian restaurateur's response to the popularity of all things French after WWII, a popularity derived from the decision of the French chefs who had come in 1939 to create the restaurant at the French Pavilion of the NYC Worlds Fair and got stuck here for the War's duration to open Le Pavilion, which became NYC's premier (French) postwar restaurant. Previously, most Italian restaurants in New York City had served "red sauce"with dishes. The new butter and wine sauce was lighter and fresher and thus dubbed "francese."(I also remember a finishing dusting of chopped parsley.)"

David gave the following recipe for Veal Francese as he remembers eating it in the late 50s and created the recipe for Chicken Francese, more popular in the anti-veal pro-chicken US of today. Today, huge veal chops are the popular menu item in the US, but I still prefer veal scaloppini, though I must say that I have added Chicken Francese, made with a mild pecorino (some of what is called pecorino romano in the States is, as Faith Willinger has said, so strong as to be inedible) to my repertoire and had many requests for the recipe."

Simple Veal Francese

Taste With David Rosengarten Show #TS4914

• 1/2 pound veal scallops from leg
• Salt and pepper
• 1 egg, beaten well
• Flour for dredging
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup dry white wine

Place veal pieces between 2 sheets of waxed paper and pound with a mallet until they're thin. Season with salt and pepper.

Place the beaten egg in a wide, shallow bowl. Place the flour on a wide plate.

Dip the pounded veal in the egg. Remove, letting the excess egg drip back into the bowl.

Place each scallop in the flour, and coat lightly. Remove the scallops from the flour, and hold them in a single layer.

Add 4 tablespoons of the butter to a sauté pan large enough to hold the 6 scallops in a single layer. Melt the butter over medium-high heat.

When it foams, add the veal. Sauté, turning once, until the scallops are golden on the outside. Remove the scallops and hold in a single layer. Spill the butter out of the sauté pan into a bowl, and return the pan to high heat. Add the white wine and reduce it to 1/2 cup. Turn heat to very low. Swirl in the butter until the sauce is thickened.

Add the reserved veal cutlets to the pan, turning them until they are coated with the sauce.

Divide scallops among 2 plates, pour remaining sauce over them, serve immediately.

Yield: 2 servings

A printer-friendly version of this recipe.

Chicken Francese With Lemon And Pecorino

Taste With David Rosengarten Show #TS4914

• 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 2 heaping tablespoons of finely grated mild Pecorino (Romano, Toscano or Sardo) cheese
• 4 tablespoons very finely chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
• 1 egg, beaten well
• Flour for dredging
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 6 thin, round slices of lemon, seeds removed
• 2 tablespoons butter

Cut the chicken breasts into 6 slices of roughly equal size. Place the slices between sheets of waxed paper, and pound with the smooth side of a mallet until they're thin.

Season with salt and pepper.

Place cheese and parsley in a wide, shallow bowl. Slowly add the beaten egg, whisking until it's smoothly incorporated.

Place the flour on a wide plate.

Dip the pounded chicken slices in the egg mixture. Remove, letting excess egg drip back into the bowl.

Place each cutlet in the flour, and coat lightly. Remove from flour and hold them in a single layer.

Add the olive oil to a sauté pan large enough to hold the 6 cutlets in a single layer.

Place over medium-high heat.

When the oil is hot, add the cutlets. Sauté, turning once, until the cutlets are golden on the outside, just cooked on the inside (about 2 minutes per side).

Remove the cutlets, and hold them in a single layer.

Spill the oil out of the sauté pan into a bowl. Return the pan to high heat. Add the white wine, and reduce it to 2 tablespoons. Add the chicken stock and the lemon slices. Boil for 5 minutes, then remove the lemon slices. Keep boiling the sauce until it's reduced to 1/2 cup.

Turn heat to very low. Swirl in the butter until the sauce is thickened. Add the reserved chicken pieces, turning them until they are coated in sauce. Divide cutlets among 2 plates, pour remaining sauce over them, sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons of parsley, and serve immediately.

Yield: 2 portions

A printer-friendly version of this recipe.

Suggested wine: Antinori Castello della Sala, Sauvignon, 1996

Kaye copied the recipes from David's space on the Food Network. It's an elegant, nicely done website, with one major problem (as I see it): they take down the recipes after 2 weeks. If you miss something it's gone, unless someone has the foresight to clip & save, and is kind enough to share.

Returning to the recipe, Veal Francese is what's known in Italy as scaloppine al vino bianco, which is present throughout the Peninsula, in an infinite number of variations. The scaloppine served in Roman trattorie on summer evenings are especially nice, perhaps because of the atmosphere. For a variation on the veal, use the sauce Kaye gives for the chicken -- you'll end up with something quite similar to the veal piccata I sent out last week, albeit without the prosciutto.

Moving on to other things, a couple of dietary requests.

Stephen writes"I have a friend who is diabetic and loves pasta but the pasta plays heck with the blood sugar levels when he eats the flour-based pasta. He is interested in the pasta made from the artichoke and cannot find it. If you could help me with this I would appreciate it very much."

And Avril writes,

"Got a real good one for you.

"Just been diagnosed with an allergic condition that prohibits the use of wheat, sugar or yeast in my diet. Do you have any ideas on how I can make bread without these? I know it's not really your field but I've tried the net and can't find anything there.

If anyone knows where to find artichoke pasta, or has any ideas on wheat-free yeast-free bread (gluten-free flour, chestnut flour, potato starch, and baking powder come to mind but ) I'll be happy to pass them on.

Finally, Terri is planning to be in Tuscany this November, and wonders about the feasibility of using public transportation for day trips into the countryside around Florence, as opposed to using a rental car.

Tuscany does have an excellent public transportation network that reaches almost every hamlet in the region, but it's aimed primarily at students and commuters -- helping people who live in small towns get to schools or jobs in larger population centers early in the morning, and home again later on in the day. There may or may not be a mid-day bus to the town you're interested in, and this means that you could end up with several hours to kill after you've seen what you wanted to. Therefore, you'll be much better off with a rental car if you want to go out into the country and go from town to town, say, exploring Chianti or seeing Montalcino and Montepulciano on the same day. Or visiting San Gimignano; though there is bus service, it takes much longer than it does to drive.

For visiting Tuscany's other larger cities (Lucca, Pisa, Livorno, Siena and Arezzo), on the other hand, you'll be better off with public transportation because parking is extremely difficult in all of them. Siena and Lucca are about an hour by bus, whereas Pisa and Arezzo are about an hour by rail. Livorno is a little further.

In summary, you should plan out what you want to do and rent a car for just the days you will actually be in the country. I have no experience with renting cars in Italy, but have been told that it's much cheaper to arrange the rental from the US. This advice will hold true for other parts of Italy as well.

A note: Jay Pulli, who has a very nice Tuscan travel site with lots of photos, concurrs:

"Having just returned from 3 weeks in Italy, I'd vote for a rental car if you want to explore. It is not cheap by US standards, but time is money on vacation, why waste time. I arranged for a rental car using the web site http://www.europebycar.com/ and it cost me about $850 for 3 weeks. This site provided much better deals than those obtained by my traveling companions through travel agents."

Thanks for visiting, and have a wonderful day!
Kyle Phillips

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