What's in Grandma's Recipe Tin?-Wiener Schnitzel

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.

Wiener Schnitzel
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

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!