I come from a culinary arts background, but have since left that industry. I am now working on my writing, and enjoying cooking for family and friends.
My original plan was to make this meal last weekend, Memorial Day weekend, when I was going to Leavenworth on Saturday, but I had misplaced the recipe and couldn't find it, and was just too lazy to deal with it all, so I scrapped it till this weekend. I chose this wiener schnitzel recipe because Leavenworth is a Bavarian-style town, and I like German food, so it was a perfect connection. While there, I picked up a package of spaetzle to try, because I've never had it before and it's the quintessential German side dish. Neither disappointed.
The recipe is from a newspaper clipping from an unknown year, from one of the Seattle newspapers, because I can see Seattle-related things advertised on the other side of the clipping, but no date or year listed anywhere. It does say the recipe is a reprint from the San Francisco Chronicle originally. I'll type it out because it's larger than the last recipe and won't show up very well in a photograph.
4 pork cutlets, each about 1/2" thick or slightly less (about 1 1/2 lbs.)
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups panko or homemade breadcrumbs (see note)
2 Tbsp. butter, plus more as needed
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt or kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons, halved
Preheat oven to 225 degrees and place a serving platter in the oven.
Pound the cutlets until they measure roughly 7" by 10" and are very thin, about 1/8" thick. It takes about 4 minutes per cutlet to accomplish this. The cutlets can be pounded the day before and wrapped in plastic wrap until ready to cook, if desired.
Pour the milk in a shallow bowl, and put the beaten egg in another. Sprinkle the panko or breadcrumbs on a sheet of aluminum foil.
In a large frying pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. While it is melting, dip one cutlet into the milk, then the egg, and then lay it in the panko or breadcrumbs, then turn and coat the other side. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. When the butter foams, put the breaded cutlet into the hot butter. If the pan is large enough, repeat with a second cutlet.
When the crust is golden brown, about two minutes, turn and repeat on the other side, 1-2 minutes. Remove and place on the warm platter in the oven. Repeat, adding more butter as needed, until all are done.
Serve hot, along with half a lemon.
Note: To make homemade breadcrumbs: Simply put dried baguette or other artisan bread in a blender or food processor and chop or process to medium light crumbs.
I started off with two thin-sliced pork chops. Basically one pork chop, cut down the middle. The recipe doesn't say exactly what kind of cut of meat to use, which would have been helpful, so I just went with these, because they were already thinner, and affordable.
And as you can tell, I don't always follow directions as they are written. This is usually because I don't actually really read them until just before cooking, and then I generally wing-it as I go, as long as I got the ingredients right, which I also sometimes don't follow either, cuz what's the fun of following the rules? I mixed the egg and the milk together, like you would for dipping bread for French toast, and you know what? It turned out just fine. Don't bother dirtying up a third plate for the breading process, it's totally ok to mix the egg and milk.
Here is the finished result! I used panko, and half of it falls off, so don't freak out if that happens to you too. Enough will stay on to be delicious and coat it all. And as you can tell, it's not nearly as thin as the recipe says it should be. This is because I spent forever pounding them with a meat mallet and that's as thin as they got. I got worried my apartment neighbors would start to get upset if I kept at it, so I just stopped. Again, if it had said what cut of meat to use, it would have helped because some work better than others for this, and clearly the pork chops I had weren't the right cut. It's ok if yours don't get as thin as they should either, just know that you'll need to cook them longer, but it'll all work out fine in the end. Don't panic.
Here they go in the melted butter. The butter immediately sucked up into the breadcrumbs and I had to keep adding more and more that I finally switched to oil because I was tired of using so much butter. It still needed way more than it called for, so be prepared emotionally to be consuming so much butter and oil in one dish, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, you know? Just work out a few extra minutes the next day and you'll be all good.
Here's the first flip. It does take a few times on each side to get it really browned. Be careful with the tongs because the breading is delicate and will scrape off if you press too hard with them. And make sure to take extra care to fry the edges too, because they won't brown on their own if you don't. If they were thinner, they'd cook faster and probably cook the sides better too. But, just adapt to what you ended up with and it'll be fine!
Here's the spaetzle I bought in a German cheese shop in Leavenworth. It was expensive, but worth it. It's an imported item and you're supporting a small, independent store, so I had no problem shelling out some extra money on it. I just followed the directions on the package exactly, which are thankfully in English, and it turned out great. I know sometimes people fry these in butter after they're cooked, and I'd definitely eat it that way. It would just make it that much more awesome. It's a good alternative from other, more common forms of side dishes, and a must for German entrees!
Here's the final result! Nicely browned, crispy breading which you must put lemon juice on, it just takes the flavor up to a whole other level of deliciousness! This didn't go exactly as the recipe said it would, but it still turned out great. That's the important lesson to be learned with cooking. Don't be intimidated by the instructions. If one way doesn't work for you, find another way!
If you like German food, or want to explore German cuisine more, this is a great starter recipe. It's pretty basic, and quick and easy. I think you'll all enjoy this one! Happy Cooking!
Continent/Region: Central America and the Caribbean Capital: Kingston Current Head of State: Prime Minister Andrew Holness Form of Government: Unitary Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy Official Language: English; National Language-Jamaican Patois Ethnic Groups: 92% black, of Sub-Saharan African descent, East Indian, Chinese, Biracial Formation Date: The island was settled between 4000 and 1000 BCE, by the Taino and Arawak peoples of South America. Population: As of July 2015-2,950,210 Currency: Jamaican dollar Independence Day: August 6, 1962-From the United Kingdom Main Religion: Christianity Famous Jamaicans: Marcus Garvey, Bob Marley, Usain Bolt Famous Jamaican Americans: Harry Belafonte, Colin Powell, The Notorious B.I.G., Heavy D, Corbin Bleu, Gloria Reuben, Dule Hill National Anthem:
The Food: Jerk Pork Chops, Callaloo, Fried Plantains, and Coco Bread
This was a fun meal! I was worried a little about how spicy Jamaican food can be, but it's pretty easy to control the spice level, so it didn't turn out to be too spicy at all.
Jamaican food is sort of like Southern food in the United States. It is a blend of several different cultures that each brought their ingredients, cooking techniques, and flavor profiles with them when they came to the island. Indigenous ingredients blended with South American, European, and African ingredients over the centuries to create something completely unique. Being an island, seafood is naturally a large part of Jamaican cuisine. I went in a different direction this time, however.
I had a recipe for jerk pork chops in my collection forever but was never brave enough to try it, for fear of it being too spicy. This was a silly, unfounded fear, and I should have tried it long ago, because it ended up being just about the best pork chop I have ever had in my entire life.
"Jerk" is a seasoning blend unique to Jamaica. My particular recipe comes from the very authentically Jamaican, Family Circle magazine, and I am going to go out on a limb and say that it is probably slightly Americanized for a blander palette. If you are interested in trying out jerk seasoning in something besides this recipe, there are many recipes out there to make your own seasoning blend that is as spicy as you want it to be. I found that it could have even been a little more spicy and I would have been ok with that. I will write out the recipe as I made it.
Jerk Pork Chops:
2 large green onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. lemon juice(lime juice would also be fantastic in this)
2 tsp. honey
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. hot sauce(I used Tabasco and I found it could have been doubled for a bit more spice without being overwhelming.)
4 Bone-in loin pork chops(about 8oz. each), 1" thick
1.) In a small bowl, mix all of the ingredients except the pork chops.
2.) Place pork chops in a gallon-size ziplock bag. Pour the jerk seasoning and cover the pork chops well on all sides. Zip the bag closed and refrigerate for 2 hours. Turn over at least once during the marinating time.
3.) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat a grill pan over high heat. If the handle of your grill pan is not metal, wrap well in a couple layers of foil.
4.) Place chops on grill pan; cook 2 minutes per side. Place the grill pan into the oven.
5.) Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes, depending on thickness, or until the temperature reaches 155 degrees. Remove from oven and let meat rest 10 minutes. (I did 20 minutes for mine and it was perfect.)
Makes 4 servings. 327 calories, 18g. fat, 1 g. fiber
This was not really that hard to make and the flavor was fantastic. I have never had the thicker bone-in loin chops like that before and it was well worth the extra cost. If you don't eat them that often, go ahead and splurge and get the really good cut. You won't be disappointed!
To go with this, I wanted to make Callaloo. I didn't know what it was, I only remember them talking about it on The Cosby Show when I was growing up and always wanting to know what it was. Well, now was the time to find out! It turns out that callaloo is a type of leafy green vegetable native to Jamaica. It is prepared pretty much like collard greens and the recipe I found said you could use those as a substitute. If you recall from last year's project, I tried collard greens and failed horribly at it. I decided this was my second chance to try it out. I'm very happy to say that they turned out much better this time! I made sure to add a lot of water!
The recipe also came with a side recipe for frying plantains with it. I did this as well and used it as the starchy side for the meal. Both were really easy to prepare. The Callaloo recipe can have bacon in it if you want, but I chose to leave it out for a vegan version instead. This way I can share some of the leftovers with my vegetarian coworker tomorrow!
Callaloo and Fried Plantains:
1 bunch of fresh Callaloo, kale, collard greens (about 11/2 pound) (I used collard greens) 2 thick bacon strips cut in pieces (I omitted this) 3-4 garlic cloves minced 1 medium onion, chopped ½ teaspoon smoked paprika 1 sprig of fresh thyme (I used 1/2 tsp. dried since I did not have fresh on-hand_ 1 fresh tomato, chopped (I had an extra half of a tomato to use up so I threw that in as well) 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper (This is one of the hottest peppers and there was no way I was going to use it. I had a bottle of Habanero pepper sauce, though, that I had meant to mail to my cousin in Texas, but had been too lazy to ever do, so I used about 1/2 tsp. of that instead. I could have used more because it could have been more spicy, but I didn't want to risk overdoing it.) Salt/pepper, to taste 3- 4 ripe plantains (I only used 1 because it was just for me. I would say half a large plantain per person is a good gauge) Cooking oil Salt/pepper (optional)
Cut leaves and soft stems from the callaloo branches, them
soak in a bowl of cold water for about 5-10 minutes or until finish with prep. (If using collard greens, wash very well, then cut the stems out and cut the leaves into bite-sized pieces. You don't need to soak them.)
Prepare the fried plantains: Using a sharp knife cut both ends off the plantain. This
will make it easy to grab the skin of the plantains. Slit a shallow line down
the long seam of the plantain; peel only as deep as the peel. Remove plantain
peel by pulling it back. Slice the plantain into medium size lengthwise slices and
set aside.
Coat a large frying pan with cooking oil. Sprinkle with
salt, freshly ground pepper. Let the plantains fry on medium heat, shaking
the frying pan to redistribute them every few minutes. (I found they stuck to the pan and I had to work a bit to loosen them so I could turn them over. They're pretty hearty though, so don't be afraid to use some force on them.) As the plantains brown, continue to add more cooking oil, salt and pepper, if needed, until they have reached the desired color
and texture. Remove and serve with callaloo.
The Callaloo was pretty tasty. Collard greens have a slightly bitter taste to them, but they were much less bitter this time around since I didn't burn them to death. They could have had a bit more spice but I didn't want to tempt fate with the habanero sauce.
The plantains reminded me of sweet potatoes. Plantains are related to bananas. You can see they look just like one, but they tend to be harder, starchier, and less sweet. They do have sweetness, though, so go into it knowing this. I found them to be a little too sweet for my tastes, however. I will explore them more, in future blog posts, so my palate might adjust to it in time.
As if that wasn't enough, I decided I needed to make bread too. I found a recipe for Jamaican Coco Bread and found the name intriguing. You would think there would be coconut somewhere in the recipe, but you would be wrong! I found this recipe interesting because the preparation was unlike any bread I've ever made before. It's a basic white bread, but it's divided up into pieces, rolled out into circles, spread with melted butter, and folded over before being baked. This creates a spongy texture as the bread bakes and steams simultaneously.
Jamaican Coco Bread:
2
packets yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 cup warm water
1 egg
1 cup warm milk
1 tsp. salt
3.5 cups white flour
1/2 cup melted butter
Mix
the yeast, sugar and water together. Beat the egg and stir in to the mixture. Stir
in the milk and salt. Stir in 2 cups of the flour.
Slowly
add more flour, stop when the mixture becomes stiff.
Knead the dough until it is smooth. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl and some
of the melted butter. Roll the dough around the bowl until it is entirely
coated in butter. Cover with a damp towel for 1 hour (this will allow the
mixture to rise).
Punch down the dough. Divide the dough in to 10 pieces and roll each piece in
to a thin circle. Brush the dough with melted butter then fold in half.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place folded pieces on a well-greased sheet
and place on the top rack of the oven. (I found I needed three sheets to fit
them all. You can only get 4 to fit on a standard-sized sheet.) Bake until
golden brown for about 15 minutes.
Mine ended up being a bit overdone. There were a few factors involved with this. First was, I baked two sheetpans at once. I had one on the upper level and one on the lower level and I switched them halfway through the baking time. This bread definitely does better on the top level of your oven, so they got a little over-baked. Also, I think 425 might be too high for this recipe. I would try 400 degrees and check it after 12 minutes or so to see how brown they're getting. It's also possible that I rolled the dough too thin. In spite of that though, they flavor and texture were fantastic! I spread a little more melted butter on the top and that really made it delicious.
This entire meal was amazing! It was fun to make and delicious to eat. If you are like me, and have been afraid to try Jamaican food because you've heard how spicy it can be, try making it yourself. This way you control the spice level.
The pork chops were so fantastic that I might have to add this to a more regular rotation in my daily life. I was highly impressed with them. I was really proud of this entire meal and am really looking forward to the leftovers tonight!
