Recipe of the Month – Peter Falk’s Veal Scallopini and White Wine

I’ve been a bit quiet in April because of Camp NaNoWriMo.  I’ve been doing less cooking, less boozing and more writing….  This time around, I’ve been working on my new project, the Cooking With Columbo cookbook.  Yep, you heard it here first!  Well, unless you subscribe to my newsletter, as those folks will have heard it first actually, a few minutes ago…

You may have seen posts here lately about stars such as William Shatner, Lee Grant, Oskar Werner, Dick Van Dyke John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands.  More “modern” stars than the usual folks featured here at Silver Screen Suppers.  But they, and some fabulous old skool superstars such as Myrna Loy, Celeste Holm, Janet Leigh and Ruth Gordon have all appeared opposite the great Lieutenant.

My favourite episode – starring Ruth Gordon

Hopefully destined for publication in 2016, my love of film star fodder and my love of Columbo will be combined in one hellova cookbook.  What do you think?

To celebrate, and kick things off, May’s recipe of the month is a humdinger.  Peter Falk’s very own recipe for Veal Scallopini.  For me this is the ULTIMATE Cooking with Columbo recipe because in the episode called Murder Under Glass, Falk actually makes Veal Scallopini for his adversary, played by Louis Jourdan.  Peter Falk’s recipe for this dish, published in 1967 calls for white wine, and the version he makes in the TV show as Columbo, uses red wine.  Take your pick!

If you are looking in May 2015 Peter Falk’s Veal Scallopini recipe will be here…  If you are looking sometime in the future, you’ll get a surprise!  If you fancy making the Lieutenant’s version of the recipe you could get hold of the episode and watch it before cooking up the veal.  Columbo more or less talks us through how he makes it.  Genius.  I’ll be including a recipe for the red wine recipe in the book of course, there are mushrooms in that version too…

If you were around in the 1980s you might not like the idea of veal.  But our wonderful Guild of Food Writers President Xanthe Clay wrote a great piece for the Telegraph about why it is now a good thing.

The finished dish wasn’t very photogenic but it was tasty…  Peter suggested serving with saffron rice, so I made some to the Mary and Vincent Price recipe from the Treasury of Great Recipes.  I’ll transcribe the recipe for that that here on the blog sometime.  It’s very good too…

I’ll keep you posted on the Columbo book.  It’s going to take some time, but it’s a lot of fun to work on.  I almost get to watch back to back episodes all weekend, every weekend (exaggerating…) Are you a fan of the Lieutenant?  Let me know what your favourite episode is, or your favourite co-star and I’ll see if I have a recipe…

Oh, I asked my chums at Prohibition Wines in Muswell Hill for a recommendation to have with Veal Scallopini and their choice was the nicest bottle of wine I have had for AGES.  Just lovely…