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Vitello Tonnato (cold veal with tuna sauce)

From kate@wwa.com

Place a well tied boneless veal roast (about 2 lbs) with a combination of water and white wine (some people simmer it in just white wine or a wine/white wine vinegar/water combination) just sufficient to barely cover the roast in a large casserole.

Add
1 very coarsley chopped carrot
1 stalk celery
1 medium onion (quartered)
parsley, to taste
bay leaves, to taste
whole black peppercorns, to taste
rosemary sprigs, to taste


Bring to a boil then lower the heat to medium low. Simmer for about 1 1/2 hours at which time start checking it's temperature with a meat thermometer. It is done when it reaches an internal temp of 145 to 150F (for medium rare meat) or 160F (for medium).

Remove veal from the braising liquid (which you can re-use for risotto when the weather cools down) and let cool to room temperature. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

For the sauce

In a blender or food processor, add
1 7 oz can of oil packed Italian tuna
6 to 8 anchovy fillets
2 tbl fresh lemon juice
2 tbl drained capers


Process well till the sauce is very smooth. Fold in 2/3 to 1 cup *homemade* mayonnaise at room temperature and blend thoroughly.

Taste, figure out what it needs...maybe a dash of white wine vinegar, possibly (but unlikely) some salt. I find I need to play with the sauce to hit just the right note and combination of flavors. If you used a reasonable amount of lemon when making the mayonnaise more or less of it may be needed in the tonnato sauce. Some times I add more tuna, sometimes more mayonnaise.

This sauce tastes even better after sitting overnight in the fridge and the flavors have a chance to mingle. This is a great make ahead dish actually as the roast should be refrigerated overnight as well.

When ready to serve, thinly slice the veal roast. Layer some of the sauce on a platter and arrange the veal slices in a single layer slightly overlapping. Cover with more sauce and continue layering the veal until you've layered it all, finishing with a sauce layer.

Garnish, optionally, with
capers
chopped parsley
pitted sliced olives
lemon slices
etc, to taste

Cold roast beef fillet with tonnato sauce

From: http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/ SERVES 8

1 beef fillet (about 1.6kg), trimmed of sinew
1 tbsp olive oil
To serve: watercress sprigs
Tonnato sauce
2 eggs, at room temperature
185 gm canned Italian tuna in oil, drained well
225 gm (¾ cup) whole-egg mayonnaise
50 gm (¼ cup) capers in vinegar, rinsed and finely chopped, plus extra to serve
2 golden shallots, finely chopped
2 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
Juice of ½ a lemon, or to taste

Preheat oven to 250C fan-forced. Place a heavy oven tray in oven to heat. Tie beef fillet at intervals with kitchen string to hold shape, then rub with olive oil and season to taste. Remove tray from oven and place beef fillet on tray, then roast, turning occasionally, until browned and cooked medium-rare (20-25 minutes). Remove from oven, cover with foil and cool to room temperature (30-40 minutes). Wrap tightly in plastic wrap to form a cylinder, then refrigerate until chilled (2-4 hours).

Meanwhile, for tonnato sauce, cook eggs in boiling water until hard-boiled (10 minutes). Refresh, then peel, halve, remove egg yolks (discard whites) and place in a bowl. Add tuna and mash with a fork, then add remaining ingredients, mix well to combine and season to taste with lemon juice and freshly ground black pepper. Sauce will keep refrigerated for 3 days. Serve with sliced beef fillet, watercress and extra capers.