Costolette di Vitello (Veal Chops)

A meal from the freezer!!

   The day after New Year's 2012: in my wine cellar I found the first bottle on which I had written the notation "drink in 2012." It is a 2000 Borolo. Now that wine deserves a serious meal. The only problem is that I refuse to take my car from the garage today! (It is a Federal holiday.) What to do?

   It's on days like this that your foresight pays off. I never make a serious Brown Sauce or Sauce Espagnole without freezing a few small containers for just such a day. So after my visit to the wine cellar, I visited my freezer where I found: 1 veal chop, 1 small container mashed potatoes, Sauce Espagnole and commercial, frozen baby Lima Beans. Hey, that's a grand meal waiting to happen with minimal effort. So I'll spend the afternoon watching Die Fledermaus instead of slaving in the kitchen. 

  By dinnertime everything will be thawed. Once it is heated, I'll add a little Lustau Pedro Ximénez sherry to the sauce, swirl in a little butter to finish, and serve up with the Borolo as a smashing finale to a holiday weekend!

   Here is the final plate, with very little work (because it was all done months ago) and finished in about half an hour: 

 - love, Dave