Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Cooking the veal chops for a few minutes at a very high temperature in the oven sears them like a hot skillet does.

2. Salt the veal chops liberally on both sides with kosher salt and let them sit on a plate at room temperature. Wipe the exposed bones down with a paper towel moist with lemon juice to clean and whiten them. Sometimes you find a small vestige of blood or impurity on the bone of a French-cut chop.

3. Rinse off the excess salt when the oven reaches 500 F and pat the veal dry with paper towels. The salt has done everything it will do to the veal after 45 minutes: break down collagen, penetrate the surface to a depth of about 1/2 inch and increase fluid retention within the meat.

4. Season the veal chops to taste with freshly cracked black pepper if you're a veal purist, or add various herbs and spices if you like to make a dish your own. Grass-fed veal has an affinity for floral herbs, such as rosemary and thyme, and grain-fed veal stands up to pungent flavors, such as garlic and shallots. If you're not sure if you have grass-fed or grain-fed, season it as you wish -- veal does well with a wide array of herbs and spices.

5. Coat the veal with oil or a combination of oil and butter and place it in a roasting pan. Add aromatic vegetables, such as chopped carrots, onions and celery, around the veal chops if you want to add undercurrents of flavor that accent, but do not overpower, its delicate taste. Place the pan on the center oven rack.

6. Roast the veal at 500 F for about eight to 10 minutes, just enough for a golden color to form on the surface, then drop the heat to 350 F.

7. Roast the chops for 15 to 18 minutes at 350 F to reach an internal temperature of 145 F, the recommended internal temperature for safe consumption of veal, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

8. Take the veal out of the oven and check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer if you have any question about its doneness. Insert the thermometer horizontally in the side of the chop, avoiding the bone, and wait 10 seconds. The thermometer should measure at 145 F. If it falls below 145 F, return the veal to the oven and cook an additional minute for every one degree it was under 145 F.

9. Take the veal chops out of the pan and place them on a plate after you remove them from the oven. Cover the plate tightly with foil and let the chops rest for about 15 minutes per pound, or 3 minutes for each chop, before serving.