Veal cordon bleu

50 minutes + chilling ■ Serves 4 ■ A LITTLE EFFORT
Look for high-welfare British veal when buying. Good butchers and larger supermarkets sell it, or buy online at farmison.com. Comte is a French cow's milk cheese, which is similar in style to gruyere and has a lovely melting texture. The first comte cheeses are sold at the beginning of the year, after ageing in storage.

veal escalopes 4, approximately 150g each
thick-cut ham 4 slices
comte 4 slices
plain flour 50g
eggs 2, beaten
natural breadcrumbs 175g
vegetable oil for frying
mashed potato to serve

GARLIC HERB BUTTER
unsalted butter lOOg, softened
flat-leaf parsley chopped to make 3 tbsp
chives chopped to make 3 tbsp
tarragon leaves chopped to make 1 tsp
garlic 2 cloves, peeled and crushed
English mustard 3/4 tsp

■ To make the garlic herb butter; put everything in a bowl, add some seasoning and mix together with a fork.
■ Divide the butter into four and roll each piece in greaseproof paper to form a flat torpedo shape. Chill for 30 minutes
■ Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Put the four veal escalopes between sheets of clingfilm and bash gently with a rolling pin to get thin, flat pieces of meat.
■ Put the escalopes onto a board, rough side up, and season with pepper. Lay a slice of ham over and trim so it fits inside the veal then top with a slice of cheese. Unwrap the garlic butter and put in the centre of the cheese and flatten a little. Now fold the escalopes over with the filling sealed inside between two layers of meat. Press down the edges to seal the meat together.
■ Put the breadcrumbs, flour and beaten eggs into separate shallow dishes. Dip each parcel into the flour, then egg, then the breadcrumbs, making sure at each stage the meat is well coated. Chill for 30 minutes.
■ Heat 2cm oil in a large non-stick pan. Add the veal and fry, turning once, until golden brown all over (about 2-3 minutes per side). Transfer to the oven for 10 minutes then drain onto kitchen paper. Serve with mash.

Source:Veal cordon bleu

Veal cordon bleu