• Start by getting everything ready. This, in French, is called “mise en place.” It is essential to have everything ready for this dish because things happen quickly, and if you are holding up chopping shallots while the veal is cooking, something will go wrong.
• Mince your shallot, chop your thyme, and have everything prepped before you even think about heating a pan.

Prepping the Veal

• If you own a meat-tenderizing mallet with a waffled side for tenderizing and a flat side for flattening, it is an excellent time to get it out of the drawer. If you don’t have a mallet, try using a rolling pin or a can of soup.
• Give each piece of veal a whack with the tenderizing side, then cover them with some clear plastic wrap and flatten them with the flat side, so they are all the same thickness. This will help break up the membrane from this cut of veal and make them more tender.

Cooking Technique

• Heat your pan over medium heat to get it hot, and then add half your butter and oil. When the butter and oil are hot but not smoking, sauté three veal cutlets for just one minute per side. Then, remove them from the pan and reserve them on a plate but don’t cover them.
• You don’t cover them because they are thin and hot and will continue to cook off the heat. If you cover them in foil, they will steam and get rubbery. You will add them back to the pan at the end, so don’t worry about them getting cold.
• You want to be sure to save any accumulated juices that come from the cutlets to add back to the sauce.
• Repeat this process with the other three cutlets.

Making the Sauce

• Discard any oil in the pan, if there is any, and reduce the heat to medium. Add the shallot, thyme, salt, and pepper, and cook for 1 minute. When Ricco gave me this instruction, my first question was, “How can you cook shallots in a dry pan?”
• His response was to keep stirring so the ingredients don’t burn and don’t leave the stove. In time with lots of practice, he reminded me, it becomes second nature. If you are concerned about burning the shallot, leave some residual oil from cooking the veal cutlets.
• Add ¼ cup of Marsala wine and reduce to half. Next, add 1/4 cup of demi-glace, stir, and correct seasonings by tasting to see if it needs more salt or pepper. How will you know? This is something you learn by doing.

Making Adjustments

• I have found that if whatever I am cooking is bland, a little bit of salt will perk it up. However, you must be careful here because if the sauce is hot, your taste buds won’t taste anything. Try using a spoon to taste the sauce but be sure to blow on it to cool it off before you make any adjustments.
• You can also taste for sweetness at this point. If the sauce doesn’t have that wonderful Marsala flavor, you can add a touch of Marsala but again, be careful not to overpower the taste.

Mounting

• Reduce the sauce just a little and finish it by adding a tablespoon of cold butter. The restaurant term for this process is “mount,” which means to whisk cold butter into a warm sauce for added flavor, smoother texture, and more sheen.
• If you are adding more than one tablespoon, it is essential to add them piece by piece making sure the first one is fully incorporated before adding the next. If you add all the butter at once, you risk the chance of the sauce separating into liquid and fat. This is called “breaking.”

Finishing Up

• Add the veal back to the pan for 30 seconds to 1 minute to reheat, incorporate the flavors and warm it up. Serve it immediately with a side of pasta or a simple rice dish.

What About Mushrooms?

• I’ve always associated Veal Marsala with sliced mushrooms, so I asked Chef Ricco to give me some ideas and pointers on adding them to his recipe. He explained that in many restaurants, they typically cook the mushrooms right in the sauce to save time and reduce the number of dirty pans, but he likes to cook them separately for a couple of reasons:
• Mushrooms give off a lot of liquid that he doesn’t want in his sauce.
• By cooking them separately, they won’t taste like the rest of the dish. This way, you add an additional layer of flavor to the recipe.
• How does he serve them? He likes to serve the mushrooms as a garnish on top of the dish after it’s been sauced. Alternatively, he might add them back to the saucepan right before serving.
• Be sure to get the mushrooms started before you begin cooking the veal. You don’t want to mess around with mushrooms while making the Marsala sauce.

Preparing mushrooms to serve with Veal Marsala

• Clean, fresh mushrooms with a damp cloth or paper towel. Never soak them in water; they will absorb the water like a sponge and be soggy.
• Thinly slice the mushrooms, and then sauté them in a bit of butter and oil. You want to cook them until they are just tender.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Remove from pan and reserve. If you add them back to the sauce before serving, don’t worry about them getting cold.
• If you are going to serve on top of the veal as a garnish, cover and keep warm.