Cuttin' Up

Ok, so I have been away for a long while. The long and short of it is Jewish holidays, family came to visit, spring arrived, I have been suffering with hives for 3 weeks now and living in a Benedryl haze and now I am trying to get my life back. OK, so during my hiatus from blogging, and while my family was visiting for Passover, a dear friend sent me an article on Butchering. Yes, I mean, pick out your farm animal, humanely end it's life and carve it up. In a word, ICK! Alright so this is not for me but some people may find it rewarding. Julie Powell of Julie & Julia fame even wrote a second book all about butchering and how she hung out with this group in the Catskills of New York that was really into butchering their own livestock. I try to be a locavore, that is buying locally grown produce and if I can, various meats but we all have limits.

So, imagine my surprise when I came face to face with a butchering dilemma! I wanted to make Stuffed Breast of Veal. It was a dish my mom and my grandmother made every once in a while and I guess that is what made it so special. I knew my dad was going to be here over Passover and thought it would be really nice to make this treat. I have tried for months to buy breast of veal in the supermarkets here but I guess it's just not something Richmonders eat. I asked my dad's significant other if she could bring one from FL. when they came up to visit. No problem she said, it's readily available down there.

Now I have to tell you that usually breast of veal will feed 3-4 people easily so if you have a crowd, you might need more than one. So in my mind, I'm expecting something with about 4-5 large bones and about 12-16 inches across the top. So just imagine the look on my face as my father carries in this JUMBO styrofoam cooler and proceeds to remove this flat package, wrapped in butcher paper that is about 31/2 FEET long!!!!! Holy Cow or should I say, Holy VEAL!! it was the whole thing and frozen solid!! It wouldn't even fit in my freezer without being turned on an angle! We debated how best to cut it even considering asking a neighbor with a bandsaw to do the job. However, this was not to be. No, it would be up to me and a very sharp knife to get the deed done and so, for your amusement, here are some photos of me and my brush with butchering.

So now you want to know where is the picture of all wonderful deliciousness? We got so carried away with how good it smelled and wonderful it looked that we ate it and forgot to take a picture! Trust me, it was really good and I doubt anyone but me would be crazy enough to make it! If you want to try it yourself, call me and I'll send you the recipe!