David Ross

Yes, that happens far too often.

I saw an episode of an Andrew Zimmern show the other night where he was traveling through the German countryside. One local dish was a schnitzel made out of carp. I thought that was odd, but in checking this morning it's a popular dish in Germany and the Czech Republic. Sometimes they score the fish before frying it, so in my mind since it's not a flat filet that wouldn't really be a schnitzel would it?

I personally wouldn't pour a sauce over a schnitzel, nor any fried food. I just have this aversion to fried foods getting soggy. So much so that I don't drain anything on paper towels but rather on a small rack, then immediately onto the plate. If I wait too long before eating say a schnitzel, the bottom gets soggy sitting on the plate, which I think might happen with a sauce. I'd be more likely to put a sauce in a small cup to dip a bite of schnitzel in.

Looks delicious

And this also brings up a question about the best skillet to use. I have good non-stick, an electric skillet and an old-fashioned cast iron. Does one work better for schnitzel?

That NY Times article will be helpful for me as I've fallen into that trap of the crust always falling off the schnitzel. I've got some assorted berries in the freezer that I might use as an accompaniment.

Consider, if you will, the Schnitzel. The national treasure of Austria, the word Schnitzel is a diminutive of the word “sniz” or “slice.” A piece of meat, pounded thin, then coated in bread crumbs and fried. Traditionally served simply with slices of fresh lemon, a sprinkle of paprika and maybe a leaf or two of parsley. Dating back to about 1845, the most famous of the schnitzels is the Wienerschnitzel (the Swiss break it into two words-Wiener Schnitzel), always made with veal. But the Wienerschnitzel we are discussing must not, in any way, be confused with the fast food chain "Der Wienerschnitzel", founded in California in 1971, and to this day selling "wieners" - a.k.a. hot dogs - under a pseudo-Austrian affectation. Opened in 1905 by Johann Figlmüller in the heart of Vienna, restaurant Figlmüller Wollzeile has been known as the “Home of the Schnitzel.” Serving massive portions of schnitzel draped over plates and served with a side of Austrian potato salad. Schnitzel isn’t always made with pork. Nor is it always breaded and fried as we know it. Take the Walliser Schnitzel for example. A pork escalope with a pocket stuffed with dried apricots sautéed in white wine with ham, parsley, cheese and almonds. The Walliser schnitzel is brushed with a tangy mustard but never coated in breadcrumbs and fried in sauté pan in a shallow pool of butter. If you’ve ever trekked through the cities, towns and fairs that dot the state of Iowa, you’ve surely come across the beloved tenderloin sandwich. A large slab of thin pork, dipped, breaded and fried, then placed between a bun that covers literally a few inches of the beast. A Schnitzel sandwich if you will. Served dry, with mayonnaise, maybe a few dill pickle slices and you're tasting a slice of America's heartland. Tradition tells one that Schnitzel can also be made with mutton, chicken, pork, beef, turkey or reindeer. Today one could stretch the idea of the protein to include a “Tofu Schnitzel” perhaps topped with a spiced mixture of lentils and harissa. I happen to live in the Pacific Northwest where it is common for hunters to craft a schnitzel from venison or elk, the perfect treatment for lean wild game that doesn’t need more than a kiss of the hot skillet to get crispy. Now the dip and fry are constant points of the schnitzel debate. Dipped in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs is the primary technique. Or is that egg mixed with milk, or condensed milk? Is it a double-dip in the flour and egg? And do we use fresh bread crumbs, panko or bread crumbs with parmesan? Wouldn’t pork lard be the best fat for frying a pork schnitzel? Or do we use butter, shortening, canola, vegetable or olive oil? As you can see we have some work to do here. Welcome to eG Cook-Off #76 and Consider the Schnitzel. (See the complete eG Cook-Off Index here.)

Finally doing the Holiday baking I wasn't able to get to during the, uh, Holidays. Instead of a traditional pie, I made an open face mincemeat tart using puff pastry, (sorry the frozen kind). Doused the mincemeat in rum about 4 hours before the bake. Turned out really delicious.

I got an Instant Pot for Christmas. Did ribs, which were fast and tender but I’ll still take the traditional low and slow over wood. Does anyone have a recipe and directions how I can do a whole chicken? Then what about a Asian barbecue sauce or glaze to finish it in the oven???

I've been really frustrated this year about our lack of fresh and live Dungeness crabs. Typically the season in the Pacific Northwest opens about the first of December, and we rush to get crabs for the Holidays. Finally we saw an update on the news yesterday that said the commercial season off the coast of WA will open on January 15. (Too late to make Father's hot crab dip for a holiday party, but I'll make it just for me). This particular news story said it was due to a red tide issue, but really I'm not sure exactly why the season was delayed. I have a former employee who was crabbing with her husband two weeks ago out of Puget Sound and she said it was slow going for the effort. They have a commercial fisherman friend who will sell them fresh Dungeness crabs at $5 apiece when the season starts!

I've never tried sous vide, although I recently got a circulator. I'll have to try it.

Yes that sounds good. You reminded me of a duck ala' orange recipe I've got stowed away somewhere in a recipe box. It's out of a food magazine I just can't remember which one. It's more of a tart orange sauce that relies on the sweet element from the oranges rather than a lot of added sugar, then uses Asian five-spice powder. In any case I'm sure your duck will be delicious.

Like a lot of recipes I've developed from scratch, my roast duck is pretty unconvential in terms of method. I slow-roast it at 275 for about 5 hours, then at the very end turn the heat up to crisp the skin. Turns out golden and crispy and moist. A lot of people might be turned off by the breast meat being well-done, but the slow-roasting happens to keep the breast moist and juicy, at least that's my experience. I usually stuff the cavity with lemons and garlic for added flavor. I make this in late summer every year during our huckleberry season and serve the duck with a huckleberry compote. Right now I have some huckleberry-cranberry compote I made for Thanksgiving turkey so now I'm thinking another roast duck with this compote.

I never thought I'd say there was another TV cook more grating than Rachel Ray. Then I came across another quote from the Pioneer Woman instructing folks with her kitchsy country pone on the finer points of making a Grasshopper Pie..... "THROW some cookies into the food processor (or a big Ziploc if you just want to CRUSH'EM yourself.)........POUR'EM into a pie pan..... I teach at a kitchen store in Spokane and the students are pretty sophisticated home cooks. If I ever used that trendy broken type of language they'd shoo me out of the kitchen!

I don't know why I haven't made this before, or why I did this morning! Been thinking about easy recipes I can do right now with stuff on hand and not a lot of heavy work. So eggs baked in puff pastry. Packaged puff pastry that is. I cut out a decent size square of the pastry, then two more squares the same size. Then cut a hole in those two squares to nestle the eggs, and put them on top of the base layer. Then brushed with egg wash. Cracked in two eggs, some dried parsley, diced bacon and black pepper. Wish I had some fresh tarragon or thyme on hand. Oh, and a nice sprinkle of parmesan would have been nice. In a 425 oven for about 14 minutes til the pastry was golden and the eggs just set but yolks still runny. Surprised me it was so delicious.

One that has been grating on me recently is The Pioneer Woman. I normally never watch it, but I'm spending way too much time watching television right now as I recover from my broken arm. Herewith is just one example that came across the television this morning. Most stupid quote on a cooking show? This morning, from Ree Drummond the so-named "Pioneer Woman,"..."Whenever I go out of town I make sure the fridge is stocked with food so the people I leave behind don't go hungry......" As if her husband and sons are cave dwellers and could only roast some of the beef they raise on the farm. Then in the next segment her sons and husband raid the fridge and he makes a caveman-like statement, "let's see what the girls left us to eat." Poor fellow needs to learn how to get along, maybe boil an egg and make some toast.....

Thanks for this story Thanks for the Crepes. I am hoping each day you are getting better. Reminded me of a similar experience when I was in a nursing/rehab facility in June after my knee replacement. They had an outdoor patio area where we could go and have lunch if the weather was nice, which it was the three weeks I was there. There was a barbecue, but was only useable if your family or friends brought stuff in. Many of us were clamoring for the staff to treat us to a barbecue one day. I remember a large family group came in and celebrated their elderly Father's birthday with a Hawaiian feast, some takeout items and a lot of homemade things, and they also barbecued huge amounts of meat. I remember they had some Kalbi style ribs and teriyaki. And a cake! We were all so envious. I had friends bring in food a couple of times, cravings like burgers and pizzas which I rarely eat at home. The nurses were fine with that, but the "dragon lady" who ruled the dining room would have admonished my friends and I probably would have been given demerits. Some of the fellow patients I befriended during those three weeks in June, (and we shared the table at meals), ended up going to the administrator to complain about the food and Ms. dragon lady, but to no avail. I stayed silent on the sidelines, but I think now it was the makings for a great tragic comedy movie. Thankfully there was no drama, just not great food, during my recent two weeks in the hospital.

For me the arm is only 5 weeks out but feels like years. Still very sore but manageable and I can do some simple cooking with using it at all. I'm also on oxygen right now, which is a challenge to keep the lines out of the way, especially in the kitchen. I'm lucky because up here there is an old-fashioned grocery delivery service. Nice store and you order online, virtually anything they stock in the store. That's made it easy since I can't drive yet. I might even order a small prime rib from them for Christmas dinner.

Yeah, my experience in two different hospitals in Spokane this year were both the room service model. The menus at both had a fair number of items. At both hospitals the food services staff was wonderful, calling me daily if I had forgotten to order a meal and calling ahead for placing orders for meals throughout the day. One drawback was dietary restrictions. I'm not on any dietary restrictions at home nor does my primary care order anything, but in the hospital they watched the chart closely and that info was then scribed into diet orders. So if I called up and wanted soup, they'd say no due to too much salt in the soup for example. In general though the food was so-so but the service excellent. The food in both hospitals was actually better than the food at the rehab facility.

I'm glad you're recovering and hope each day gets better. Thank you for listing the menus of what you had each day, it echoes pretty much what I just experienced in terms of food. I thought 4 days in the hospital in May followed by 3 weeks in a rehab facility would be enough for the year, but in November I shattered my upper right arm bone that required surgery and a plate and screws. Got released but ended back in the hospital three days later due to pneumonia and respiratory failure. A total of another 12 days in the hospital. The food at this hospital was fair, sometimes good. They put me on a very low sodium diet thinking I had some heart issues, which two of my Doctor's have since dispelled. That packet of Mrs. Dash seasoning was sort of nasty. The packaged sherbet was good, which isn't saying much since it was made by an outside vendor. The eggs for breakfast were actually good, not dry or pasty at all. The cheese sandwich at lunch was gummy, but the blt was good. Of course they said I couldn't have bacon due to the salt content, so I had a tomato and lettuce sandwich! Two entrees at dinner were pretty good, the cheeseburger, served like in an old fashioned diner with the lettuce and tomato on the side. The grilled salmon served with orzo was delicious. After almost two weeks I think I had pretty much gone through the menu.

My Christmas cookie baking is limited this year by a broken upper right arm. For some reason the metal plate and 14 screws the surgeon implanted are impacting my cookery and bakery skills! So I'm keeping things simple and was able to do a simple cookie that was one of my Mother's favorites, jam thumbprints. Filled with apricot, strawberry and raspberry. Taste delicious in spite of the fuzzy photo--

I love it. And I use every bit of my home's 790 square feet. Last week someone came over and without prompting, said she liked the setup of my "galley" kitchen. I guess it was sort of a compliment. I've always said that the end result of what we cook isn't based on how big the kitchen is.

Three weeks ago today I suffered a terrible fall at home, shattering the bone in my upper right arm. (Yep, I'm right-handed). That led to surgery, a plate and 14 screws, and 12 days in the hospital. So I've not been cooking much. But this morning I was rummaging through the freezer looking for what I might prepare and came across my stash of huckleberries. Every season I buy a few gallons of fresh huckleberries picked off high-mountain meadows surrounding Spokane. A few fresh huckleberry dishes then I stoke the freezer with bags of berries to stretch throughout the year. And then I thought I'd do a regular recipe, a "Huckleberry Buckle." The ingredients aren't necessarily "holiday" but this would be perfect on the Christmas morning bread board. The recipe calls for blueberries, but I think you could poach cranberries and use them instead. The "buckle" is an old-fashioned quick bread that is basically a coffee cake with a streusel top. Batter- 1/2 cup shortening 3/4 cup sugar 1 egg 2 cups flour 2 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 cup milk 2 cups berries 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup flour 6 tbsp. cold butter 1/4 tsp each cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves Cream shortening and sugar. Add egg. Mix flour, baking powder and salt then add to batter. Add milk. Spread batter in greased baking dish and top with berries. In a small food processor, mix the streusel topping--sugar, brown sugar, flour, butter and spices. Spread the streusel topping on top of the berries. I spoon some of the huckleberry juice from the berries on top of top of the streusel. Bake at 350 about 45 minutes. Now please excuse the photos. I would never post these out of focus pictures, but the arm is still in the initial stages of healing so the camera wasn't too steady today...

Wonderful Paul. What are the greens and can you tell me a little more about the broth? I'm not cooking much right now due to a broken arm, but this is going to the top of the list when I can. Soothing, hot and delicious.

Aha. Now that's the ticket! Thanks.