Paprika Veal Steak

A one-pan veal steak in a paprika sour-cream sauce, written for a camp stove or trailer galley. Two things need attention: the sauce must not boil, and three minutes will not tenderize a round steak.

• The hinge: keep the sauce below a simmerSour cream can break into grains and weeping whey if boiled hard, though the tablespoon of flour helps guard against it. Bring it barely to a bubble, then hold at the lowest heat with the lid on.
• "1 slice veal round"This means a single steak cut across the leg; the recipe gives no thickness or weight, so judge it as one portion or two modest ones. Scale butter and sour cream to the size of the pan and the steak, not to the letter of the list.
• Three minutes is only right for thin vealA pounded cutlet of 1/4 in. or less will be tender in that time. A thicker round steak will want a considerably longer spell of covered, gentle cooking, or it will be dry and stringy.
• Butter alone will brown too fast"Slowly until golden brown" is hard to control on a camp flame; milk solids in butter scorch above about 300F. Add a spoonful of neutral oil, or clarify the butter first, and keep the heat moderate.
• Paprika quantityTwo teaspoons is generous. Use fresh paprika; stale paprika tastes of dust and contributes only color. Stir it into the cream, as the recipe directs, rather than into hot fat, where paprika burns bitter.
• Sour cream then and nowFarm sour cream was cultured heavy cream and was generally thicker and richer than the 18-20 percent tubs sold today. Many modern sour creams are stabilized with gums, which helps them hold; creme fraiche, being higher in fat, will resist breaking better still.
• Flour handlingWhisk the tablespoon of flour into a few spoonfuls of the cream until smooth before adding the rest, or you will get lumps that no amount of stirring in the pan will take out.
• ServingOne steak feeds one hungry person or two modest ones. Buttered noodles, boiled potatoes or bread are wanted to catch the sauce, which is the point of the dish.