Pan to oven veal chops

They sit on the cookbook shelf in my kitchen calling out to me in big fat letters -- "MEAT" and "TENDER." And yet I rarely use Hugh Whittingstall-Fearnley's The River Cottage Meat Book or Nigel Slater's Tender. But this weekday meal was a huge exception as they helped me throw together an impromptu meal that was easy and scrumptious.

The most appealing thing at Broad Branch was the big, thick veal chops -- always excellent and priced very moderately. Since the weather was too nasty for grilling I looked for an alternative and went first to the Meat book. There, hidden in the description for pan to oven pork chops was a note on a possible alternative with veal chops that was actually a different recipe. The chops are marinated with some peeled lemon zest, lemon juice, thyme and olive oil for just two hours. Then they are seared in a skillet and transferred to an oven dish heated in a 425-degree oven. The skillet is deglazed with water and lemon juice and the liquid added to the oven dish. The chops are roasted 20 to 30 minutes. The sauce is enriched with cream and capers and spooned over the chops.

Tender gave me the perfect complement, using the half-bag of potatoes I had left over from another meal. The potatoes (he calls for new but I just used these red boiling potatoes) get boiled till tender. Meanwhile, you simmer 1 cup heavy cream with 3 crushed garlic cloves and leaves from 8 thyme sprigs and salt and pepper, reducing by a third. Drain the potatoes and lightly crush them in a shallow dish, then ladle the cream over them.

To round it out I served arugula with grated lemon zest, lemon juice and our special Spanish olive oil. Very elegant comfort food! I don't know whether these are English country recipes or where they come from, but I will certainly be looking more often into these books!