# What did I make for dinner last night? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 14, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-i-make-for-dinner-last-night/294499 "2005-03-14T18:59:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-i-make-for-dinner-last-night/294499/1 "2005-03-14T18:59:54Z")
I have no idea what to name my dish. It went over _very_ well and I’d like to make it again. The kids really like it when the dish has a name and That Veal Stuff You Made That One Sunday in March just isn’t going to cut it. Here’re the ingredients: 2.5 lb veal roast and breast 1 vidalia onion, finely minced 3 tbl vegetable oil (for browning) 1 tsp thyme 1 tsp basil 1 tsp oregano 1 can of chopped Roma tomatoes 1/3 cup of dry white wine kosher salt freshly ground pepper flour 3 tbl of tomato paste Here’s what I did: We (my ten year old son wanted to help me cook) generously seasoned the veal on all sides (except where there was bone, of course) with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. We also dusted the veal with flour. I browned the veal in batches over medium-high heat, removed them from the ducth oven and set them aside. Next I turned down the heat to medium, and sauteed the minced\* onion for five minutes or so. I deglazed the pan with the white wine, added the can of tomatoes, juice and all, and a half can of water. I added the dried spices and veal, turned up the heat and brought everything to a boil. I reduced the heat so that the liquid barely simmered. After an hour and a half of braising, when the meat was tender, I stirred in the tomato paste, and salt and pepper to taste. I served the veal and sauce over polenta with baby peas on the side. It was _fabulous_. Now, what the hell should I call it? Oh, by the way, I just completely forgot to add garlic. The whole time I was cooking I was saying to myself, don’t forget the garlic, don’t forget to add the garlic, don’t forget to add the garlic. So what do I go and do? I forgot the garlic anyway. The dish was still very, very tasty. \*[sub]We got a new Cuisinart food processor and my son really wanted to use it to chop the onion–he thinks the buttons are cool. He got a little over-zealous and result was _finely_ minced onion. They pretty much disappeared into the dish. I liked that, actually.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-i-make-for-dinner-last-night/294499/2 "2005-03-14T19:38:53Z")
Well, whatever you call it, please resist the urge to call it \ Supreme. Like Veal Supreme. I believe that type of name is reserved for recipes involving Campbell’s Cream of X soup. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-i-make-for-dinner-last-night/294499/3 "2005-03-14T19:39:01Z")
> [@UrbanChic](#): > > I have no idea what to name my dish. It went over _very_ well and I’d like to make it again. The kids really like it when the dish has a name and That Veal Stuff You Made That One Sunday in March just isn’t going to cut it. Well, it sounds like _sort-of_ a Bolognese sauce, albeit it with whole veal instead of ground chuck and pork. Since it’s a solid “roast” instead of a sauce, I’m not sure what you’d call it; some kind of “glazed” veal roast perhaps, but that really sounds like something out of a 1950’s cookbook with pictures of Formica countertops and Jello molds. Ugh! It certainly doesn’t do justice to your creation. I dunno. I’ll have to look through [Larousse Gastronomique](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0609609718/qid=1110830116/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/104-7791133-8043905?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) and see if I can find anything similar. Alas, I do not keep a copy in my office. :hangs head in shame: Stranger ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-i-make-for-dinner-last-night/294499/4 "2005-03-14T20:02:55Z")
Hmm . . . onion, tomato and wine based sauce with herbs, check. Meat browned, set aside to make the sauce, then added back in to braise, check. I’d say what you got there, son, is a veal [cacciatore](http://web.foodnetwork.com/food/web/encyclopedia/termdetail/0,7770,835,00.html), minus the mushrooms. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-i-make-for-dinner-last-night/294499/5 "2005-03-15T13:12:39Z")
I guess it could be a cacciatore. Every cacciatore I’ve made has had plenty of peppers, mushrooms and larger pieces of onions, though. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-i-make-for-dinner-last-night/294499/6 "2005-03-15T14:11:36Z")
How about Veal Roma, in honor of the tomatoes? BTW, I’ve never heard of “breast of veal”. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-i-make-for-dinner-last-night/294499/7 "2005-03-15T16:05:52Z")
Me neither, ShibbOleth, until I bought it a couple of days ago. Run ‘veal breast’ through Google, though, and you’ll get quite a few results. I was thinking of naming it Veal Italiano, but I though I (read: you guys) could do better than that. I don’t mind calling it Veal Roma, but because there’s nothing new under the sun, I just assumed I’d accidentally stumbled onto an already existing dish. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-i-make-for-dinner-last-night/294499/8 "2005-03-15T16:24:01Z")
> [@UrbanChic](#): > > I was thinking of naming it Veal Italiano, but I though I (read: you guys) could do better than that. I don’t mind calling it Veal Roma, but because there’s nothing new under the sun, I just assumed I’d accidentally stumbled onto an already existing dish. It’s not far from _osso bucco_, but it’s not quite there, either. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not already a recipe somewhere else, either, but until then you might want to call it “Veal [insert Italianated version of UrbanChic’s real name here]”. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-i-make-for-dinner-last-night/294499/9 "2005-03-15T16:36:22Z")
Add some white beans and sausage and you’ve just about got [cassoulet](http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/107409?epiSearchPage=http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/find/results?search=cassoulet).