Schnitzel!

Schnitzel is the German equivalent of a burger. It's easy to find in several different price ranges, it's a standard on most menus (certainly any kiddie menu) and it can be dressed up or down by changing side dishes (often fries are standard) and sauces. That being said, here's a recipe to help you make it at home:


Ingredients
• meat of your choice (butterfly cut pork chops or chicken breasts work best)
• flour
• eggs (beaten) (at least one for every two pieces of meat with a few extras on hand just in case)
• plain breadcrumbs (not Italian ones)
• vegetable oil
• salt
• pepper
• lemons
• ketchup (optional)
• for spicy Schnitzel add garlic powder, red pepper, and bouillon (replace salt with bouillon; use chicken bouillon with poultry, etc.).

Schnitzel can be made with any kind of meat. Actual Wiener Schnitzel is made with veal, but that’s pretty expensive, and I like it best with chicken or turkey anyways. Pork is pretty popular in Germany, too. You’ll want to get the meat of your choice cut “butterfly style” by the butcher at the grocery store (unless you’re
really ambitious and want to do it yourself). That means that it’s cut in half to make the meat half as thick, but the two halves are still connected in the middle.

Cover the meat with a piece of plastic wrap and beat it for about 30 seconds on each side. A meat tenderizer is best for this, but a wooden spoon or rolling pin will do the job, too. The meat should be fairly thin when you're done (1/4 to 1/2 inch thick).

After beating the meat, cover it completely in flour, then in egg that has been beaten, and then in breadcrumbs that have no seasoning except for a bit of salt and pepper (red pepper and/or garlic powder can be added if you want spicy schnitzel). Make sure the meat is completely covered in each of the 3
ingredients.

Add about ¼-½ inch of vegetable oil to a frying pan. Make sure the oil is hot before adding the meat. You know it’s hot when you throw a drop of water in and it sizzles. If you don’t make sure the oil is hot first, the breading will soak it up and you’ll wonder where your oil has disappeared to. Once it gets hot, reduce the heat to medium because otherwise the meat will be burned on the outside and raw on the inside.

The Schnitzel is done when it has a nice golden-brown color and is firm (raw meat is sorta squishy, cooked meat isn’t).
Serve with slices of lemon. The lemon juice is squeezed onto the Schnitzel. A lot of people eat ketchup with their Schnitzel, too.

Guten Appetit!