Veal

Top-quality veal really makes a difference in this dish; meat should be cut from the leg for scalloppine.

Beef stock (often called brown stock) is no more difficult to make than chicken stock, and just a small amount of it can be used to great effect in all sorts of dishes.

(Veal Cutlets with Prosciutto and Sage) Although chef Serge Dansereau of Kables at The Regent uses thin slices of veal from a boneless veal loin, he suggests making the dish at home with veal cutlets, which are less expensive and more widely available. If the cutlets you buy are too thick, use the smooth side of a meat pounder to pound them, between sheets of plastic wrap, to less than 1/8 inch thick.

(INVOLTINI DI VITELLO CON PECORINO E ACETO BALSAMIC)

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Grill the veal while the noodles boil so both are ready at the same time.

Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 4 1/2 hr

For this recipe we used what the butcher calls the first cut or brisket cut of the veal breast — it's the thicker, upper portion.

You'll need to order this cut of veal, a two-rib chop, from your butcher. When the meat is carved, the first one or two slices may contain gristle, but after that the veal will be beautifully tender.

You can substitute skinless boneless chicken breasts for the veal cutlets. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 35 min

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes.

(Pasta con Ragù di Vitello, Salsicce e Porcini) Ragù is a beloved part of Tuscan cooking. Every person has his or her own recipe, but the basics are constant: It is a hearty sauce made with meat (beef, pork, veal, duck, even boar) and vegetables like carrots, tomatoes and onions, all cooked in wine and broth. And ragù is most often served over pasta. This recipe includes dried porcini mushrooms, which give the sauce a real taste of the Tuscan countryside.

John Schumacher bought the historic but deteriorating Broz Hotel, 50 miles southwest of Minneapolis, back in 1974. After renovating the building, he reopened it as a European-style hotel and restaurant. Schumachers' is now on the National Register of Historic Places. John's wife, Kathleen, runs the front of the popular restaurant, and John is the chef. His specialties are central European fare — like this veal sauté.

"I recently had lunch at Café Boulud here in New York," says Shelli Rafkin of New York, New York. "My entrée, blanquette de veau, had the most incredible sauce I've ever tasted. The whole dish, in fact, was sensational." In this variation on the classic stew, the veal and the vegetables are cooked separately and combined at the end, when they're topped with a rich white sauce.