Sauteed Veal with Wild Mushrooms and Leeks

We had a good night on Friday, all the way up until one of us sustained a slight head injury. The details aren't so important, but suffice it to say that one of us didn't have the biggest appetite yesterday. So the order of the day was a small, compact dinner without a lot of fuss.

This tasted really, really good. I will reprint the recipe as it appears in one of my CIA cookbooks. I made a few modifications to it, which I think improved it overall. I'll stick those at the end. This serves 10 people. We cut in in half to make enough to have it twice.

VEAL RUB
2 ¼ teaspoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons black pepper
2 teaspoons thyme
1 kg veal top round
MUSHROOM AND LEEK SAUCE
280 g leeks, diced
120 milliliters vegetable stock
600 g wild mushrooms, sliced
600 milliliters beef stock
TO SERVE
2 teaspoons thyme, chopped

Make the veal rub by combining the minced garlic, pepper and thyme. Rub the veal with the mixture and sliced the veal into 100g portions.

To prepare the sauce, in a large skillet, sweat the leeks in 60ml of the stock until tender. Add the mushrooms and saute until tender. Add the remaining stock as needed to prevent the mushrooms from burning. Add the beef stock and simmer until heated thoroughly.

For each portion: Place some mushroom and leek mixture on a plate. Slice the veal (if desired) and fan out over the top. Top with sauce. Garnish with chopped thyme.

MY TWEAKS:
1) I added a knob of butter the the mushroom and leek mixture and let it cook into the liquid.

2) To the pan I did the veal in, another small knob of butter. Put it in when you flip them over and as the butter melts, baste the meat with the melted butter in the pan. This works for virtually any meat you mean to cook quickly in a pan and is a time-honored restaurant technique for steaks.

3) When the veal is done, removed from the pan and stick in a warm oven (50C/120F) just to keep warm. Meanwhile, drain the mushroom and leek mixture, reserving the liquid, which should have infused with mushroom-y flavor. Add that to the pan that the veal cooked in (with all the butter and any bits left behind). Bring this to a boil and let it reduce down to a sauce consistency. Season with salt and pepper.