Veal Madeira with Artichoke Hearts Recipe

Elevate Your Dinner with Veal Madeira and Artichoke Hearts

If you want to impress at your dinner table without spending hours in the kitchen, this simple veal Madeira with artichoke hearts recipe is just what you need. This dish combines tender veal with Madeira wine’s rich, complex flavors, creating a savory sauce that elevates the entire meal.

Adding artichoke hearts brings a unique texture and a hint of earthiness, perfectly complementing the succulent veal. Madeira wine, a fortified wine from Portugal, adds a distinct sweetness and depth to the sauce, while its acidity balances the meat’s richness. This recipe is not only straightforward but also allows for flexibility; you can adjust the ingredients based on what you have on hand.

In just a few simple steps, you can transform everyday ingredients into an elegant dish perfect for special occasions and weeknight dinners. Serve it over a bed of creamy mashed potatoes or a fresh green salad for a complete meal. Whether you’re a novice cook or more experienced in the kitchen, this veal Madeira recipe will have your family and friends asking for seconds!

What is Madeira Wine?

Madeiras 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 in this dish is demi-glace, a richly concentrated brown stock 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 burn the stock while it's reducing, you could throw the whole batch out.

It's not that I'm suggesting you don't try making it yourself. You can find a recipe for making demi-glace here. 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 available on the market today.

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 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 many chemicals.

Artichoke Hearts

This addition was my wife's idea.

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

Two Points

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 are better yet, but a lot more work.

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Veal Madeira with Artichoke Hearts Recipe

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 3 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 6 veal cutlets
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour seasoned with salt and pepper
• 1 medium shallot minced
• 14½ oz can artichoke hearts in water - washed, rinsed and drained
• ¼ cup Madeira wine
• ½ cup demi glace
• salt and white pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon butter for mounting

Instructions

• Have all your ingredients prepped before you begin to cook.
• Pre-heat your sauté pan.
• Dredge each cutlet in seasoned flour and shake off any excess.
• Add one-third of the oil & butter to the pan.
• Sauté 2 of the veal cutlets, one minute per side, remove, & reserve.
• Add another ⅓ 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 two cutlets.
• Reduce heat to medium, add shallot, artichoke hearts, salt, and pepper, and cook for 1 or 2 minutes, stirring constantly so nothing burns.
• Remove the pan from the heat, add the Madeira wine, and reduce by half.
• Add demi-glace; reduce until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, taste & correct seasonings.
• Finish with a cold pat of butter. (mounting)
• Add the veal cutlets to the pan for 1 minute to reheat and serve.

Notes

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.

Some of My Favorite Veal Recipes