Grilled Herb Crusted Rack of Veal

Veal is one of those proteins that people either love or refuse to try. Notice I didn’t say love or hate; that’s because if you try it, especially this veal, you’re going to love it. The technique I use for this rack of veal is similar to the one I use for a rack of lamb. Veal, however, has a very mild flavor so we’ll prepare this meat differently than lamb to allow the herb crust to complement but not overpower this delicate and delicious meat.

Does Veal Taste Different Than Beef?

Yes, absolutely. And while structurally you can see this rack of veal is just a smaller rack of beef, the color is much lighter, and the taste is more like pork than beef. Veal is also very tender because the muscles in the animal haven’t worked as hard or for as long as that of the steer so expect an extremely tender mouth feel.

What Is the Best Way to Cook Veal?

Veal can be prepared many different ways. Roasted, breaded and fried, grilled, kabobs, etc. So, is there a best way to cook veal? Well if you ask me it happens on the rotisserie. Not just because I prefer to cook everything on the grill, but because of the self-basting the rotisserie process provides AND what we’ll use (that you already have on hand) to crank this flavor up into the stratosphere. Utilizing scraps from your herbs and a few extras, we’re going to complement our herb crust by infusing even more flavor into the mild veal than you can get in an oven or frying pan. So, what’s the secret? Read on…

How to Cook Veal on a Grill:

For this recipe, I’m using a rotisserie and a charcoal grill. That’s my preferred method but I recognize that many who want to try this rack of veal don’t have a charcoal grill, or a rotisserie for their charcoal grill if they have one. Chances are good that if you have a newer mid-to-high-end gas grill you’ll have a rotisserie and I would recommend using it for this if available. For those that don’t have either, I will include instructions to get a very close result by using the reverse sear method and taking advantage of different temperature zones in their grill.

Grilled Herb Crusted Rack of Veal

Serves: 6 | Prep Time: 5 hours | Cooking Time: 90 min

Ingredients

For the Veal:
1 4-5 pound rack of veal (Frenched)
3 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp fresh rosemary (finely chopped)
2 tbsp fresh mint (finely chopped)
2 tbsp fresh thyme (finely chopped)
Zest from one lemon
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp fresh cracked pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

For the Grill:
Scraps from herbs
1 medium onion (quartered)
5 cloves of garlic
3-4 sprigs of rosemary

Grilled Herb Crusted Rack of Veal

Step 1: Strip all fresh herbs off stalks and finely mince. Don’t discard any of the herb stalks.

Step 2: In a small bowl, mix herbs with salt and pepper and add the olive oil to form a paste.

Step 3: Place the rack of veal on a sheet of plastic wrap and smear the herb paste all over the surface of the veal. Wrap veal with plastic wrap, place on a plate and put in the refrigerator for 5 hours, or overnight.

Step 4: Get veal out of the refrigerator and set on the countertop for up to an hour allowing it to come up to room temperature while you prepare your grill.

Step 5: With veal still wrapped in plastic, insert spit and prongs into the meat and set up rotisserie following your manufacturer’s instructions. Light grill and using a reliable thermometer, set grill temperature to 275°F-300°F degrees.

Step 6: Place veal on the rotisserie, on top of the hot coals, place onion quarters, rosemary, garlic, and scraps from the herbs. Allow these to smoke. Close the lid on your grill allowing herb smoke to go to work on the veal roast. Monitor your meat’s temperature about every 15–20 minutes using a reliable quick-read thermometer. Adjusting, check as meat gets closer to 125°F.

Step 7: When the internal temperature reaches 125°F-130°F, remove the veal from the grill.

Step 8: Tent veal with aluminum foil and let veal rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting into it. It will continue to cook while it rests.

For Reverse Sear Method:

Step 1: Strip all fresh herbs off stalks and finely mince. Don’t discard any of the herb stalks.

Step 2: In a small bowl, mix herbs with salt and pepper and add the olive oil to form a paste.

Step 3: Place rack of veal on a sheet of plastic wrap and smear the herb paste all over the surface of the veal. Wrap veal with plastic wrap, place on a plate and put in the refrigerator for 5 hours, or overnight.

Step 4: Get veal out of the refrigerator and set on the countertop for up to an hour allowing it to come up to room temperature while you prepare your grill.

Step 5: For those with a rotisserie, follow your manufacturer’s instructions for setting it up. For those who don’t have a rotisserie, light grill, and set up for indirect heat. Using a reliable thermometer, set grill temperature to 275°F-300°F degrees.

Step 6: Insert a reliable leave-in thermometer into the thickest portion of the veal and place veal over indirect heat, facing the bones towards the heat source. If you’re using the rotisserie, you’ll want to monitor your meat’s temperature using a reliable quick-read thermometer.

Step 7: On top of the hot coals, place onion quarters, rosemary, garlic, and scraps from the herbs. Allow these to smoke. Close the lid on your grill allowing herb smoke to go to work on the veal roast.

NOTE: If you’re using a gas grill, wrap all of those items in aluminum foil. Poke holes in the foil packet with a fork and place over gas burner. This will allow the smoke to escape and bathe the veal.

Step 8: When the internal temperature reaches 125 degrees, remove the veal from the grill and prepare the grill for high direct heat.

Step 9: Place veal directly over high heat, turning often just until you achieve a nice dark crust. About 4 minutes total. This will achieve the perfect medium-rare. Remember, flip the meat often (about every 20 seconds or so) so all sides get kissed by the flame and you achieve that beautiful crust via the Maillard reaction.

Step 10: Let the veal rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting into it. It will continue to cook while it rests.

Grilled Herb Crusted Rack of Veal