eG Cook-Off 76: Consider the Schnitzel

[Smithy]

I'm snacking now on the last schnitzel from tonight's dinner.  It was going to be tomorrow's snack, but ... well, I'm not willing to wait.

 

This was pork, thinly sliced and then rolled even more thinly.  I followed Melissa Clark's instructions from @heidih's link.  I now see what is meant by swirling the pan to get oil rolling over the cutlet.  It works well and easily. I even got some air pockets!

 

The flavors were great.  I had a few patches where the coating separated and fell off, but not many.  I would have liked a fluffier, crisper, more golden coating.  Panko crumbs might have helped, but I only had bread crumbs.  I think the oil was a bit too hot, because the coating was slightly too brown after the first two cutlets. 

 

The photo collage shows the finished platter (color is washed out, sorry), an individual schnitzel (color is more true) and the money shot.  The presentation wasn't beautiful - a sauce would have helped - but tonight's circumstances didn't allow that extra step.

 

What's interesting to me, as I munch the last schnitzel, is how it seems *more* moist and tender as it cools.  No wonder heidih enjoyed sneaking the darned things out in the night!

 

Edited February 9, 2018 by Smithy
Corrected "cutlet" to "cutlets" (log)

[lesliec]

15 minutes ago, Smithy said:

The presentation wasn't beautiful - a sauce would have helped - but tonight's circumstances didn't allow that extra step.

 

It looks great, Smithy - especially the second photo. Sauce on a 'proper' schnitzel (referred to in this house as schnitzengrubens; cf Blazing Saddles) is quite unnecessary in my view. Maybe a squeeze of lemon juice; nothing else is needed.

[Duvel]

1 hour ago, lesliec said:

It looks great, Smithy - especially the second photo. Sauce on a 'proper' schnitzel (referred to in this house as schnitzengrubens; cf Blazing Saddles) is quite unnecessary in my view. Maybe a squeeze of lemon juice; nothing else is needed.

Not for a German - the sauce defines the Schnitzel

[heidih]

5 hours ago, Duvel said:

Not for a German - the sauce defines the Schnitzel

 

Really?! - on a breaded & fried one? Just curious - sauced how?

[rotuts]

Ive never heard of a sauce on a Schnitzel

 

what might it be ?

 

a little fresh lemon juice , you bet.

 

it cuts the grease and brightens up the meat

Edited February 9, 2018 by rotuts (log)

[Duvel]

46 minutes ago, heidih said:

 

Really?! - on a breaded & fried one? Just curious - sauced how?

 

27 minutes ago, rotuts said:

Ive never heard of a sauce on a Schnitzel

 

what might it be ?

 

a little fresh lemon juice , you bet.

 

it cuts the grease and brightens up the meat

 

I am astonished ...

 

From "my menu":

 

Jägerschnitzel: mushroom cream sauce

Zigeunerschnitzel: pickled pepper and onions sauce

Rahmschnitzel: cream sauce

Kochkäseschnizel: cheese-bechamel sauce

Holsteiner Schnitzel: fried or poached egg and roasted onions

Spreewälder Schnitzel: horseradish sauce and pickled cucumber

Elsässer Schnitzel: creme fraiche with bacon and onions

Schnitzel Hawaii: pineapple and baked cheese 

...

 

Before moving to Hong Kong my wife and me were frequently visiting Schnitzelhaus "Alte Münz" in Heidelberg. Check out their menu with 100 Schnitzel varieties ...

 

In Germany, the sauce defines the Schnitzel 

 

 

 

[heidih]

OK you obviously have on the ground experience - I just always associated sauce with Naturschnitzel

[blbst36]

I have an old cookbook called Luchow's that is from an old German restaurant in NY.  There's only a couple schnitzel recipes in there and they are all for Veal which I don't eat.  I may try them with pork instead.

[Duvel]

12 minutes ago, heidih said:

OK you obviously have on the ground experience - I just always associated sauce with Naturschnitzel

It's funny: I have never considered having a Schnitzel unbreaded ...

[BonVivant]

Schnitzel light reading (links). I ran it through Google translate and can confirm it does a good job with the translation. Click on the word "translating..." to load translation.

 

Wiener Schitzel.

Making Schnitzel the proper way.

 

There's even a Schnitzel price index in Austria: Where in Austria is Schnitzel most expensive?

 

Personally, I prefer "(faschierte) Butterschnitzel".

 

 

Edited February 9, 2018 by BonVivant (log)

[Smithy]

45 minutes ago, Duvel said:

 

I am astonished ...

 

From "my menu":

 

Jägerschnitzel: mushroom cream sauce

Zigeunerschnitzel: pickled pepper and onions sauce

Rahmschnitzel: cream sauce

Kochkäseschnizel: cheese-bechamel sauce

Holsteiner Schnitzel: fried or poached egg and roasted onions

Spreewälder Schnitzel: horseradish sauce and pickled cucumber

Elsässer Schnitzel: creme fraiche with bacon and onions

Schnitzel Hawaii: pineapple and baked cheese 

...

 

Before moving to Hong Kong my wife and me were frequently visiting Schnitzelhaus "Alte Münz" in Heidelberg. Check out their menu with 100 Schnitzel varieties ...

 

In Germany, the sauce defines the Schnitzel 

 

 

This is one of the many things I love about eGullet: people from different cultures can connect and share their knowledge.  I do hope you'll participate in this Cook-Off and show us some of your schnitzel!

 

Since the sauce defines the Schnitzel in Germany, what would a German call that piece of breaded and fried meat with no sauce, as I cooked it? Does it have a more official name than "Unfinished"? 

[Tropicalsenior]

Actually, you're both right. By definition @heidih is right. the Schnitzel is the unsauced piece of meat. A thinly pounded, well breaded, well fried schnitzel is a thing of joy all by itself. But then, @Duvel is also right in that the sauce defines the dish. Example, a hamburger is a patty of meat served on a bun. The flourishes one puts on that hamburger defines the type of hamburger. Cheeseburger, mushroom burger, bacon cheeseburger burger, and so forth. Personally, I love a sauce with schnitzel, served under the meat so as to not destroy that beautiful crisp crust.

Edited February 9, 2018 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[Duvel]

2 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

This is one of the many things I love about eGullet: people from different cultures can connect and share their knowledge.  I do hope you'll participate in this Cook-Off and show us some of your schnitzel!

 

Since the sauce defines the Schnitzel in Germany, what would a German call that piece of breaded and fried meat with no sauce, as I cooked it? Does it have a more official name than "Unfinished"? 

The most basic one - as referenced above usually served with a slice of lemon and a parsley stalk - is called "Wiener Schnitzel" (if made from veal) or "Schnitzel Wiener Art" (" ... in the Viennese tradition", if made from pork or any other animal) ...

[Duvel]

3 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Actually, you're both right. By definition @heidih is right. the Schnitzel is the unsauced piece of meat. A thinly pounded, well breaded, well fried schnitzel is a thing of joy all by itself. But then, @Duvel is also right in that the sauce defines the dish. Example, a hamburger is a patty of meat served on a bun. The flourishes one puts on that hamburger defines the type of hamburger. Cheeseburger, mushroom burger, bacon cheeseburger burger, and so forth. Personally, I love a sauce with schnitzel, served under the meat so as to not destroy that beautiful crisp crust.

 

I don't think think that there is right or wrong - just very different culinary traditions that I very much enjoy to learn about and discuss ...

[Smithy]

9 minutes ago, BonVivant said:

Schnitzel light reading (links). I ran it through Google translate and can confirm it does a good job with the translation. Click on the word "translating..." to load translation.

 

Wiener Schitzel.

Making Schnitzel the proper way.

 

There's even a Schnitzel price index in Austria: Where's in Austria is Schnitzel most expensive?

 

Personally, I prefer Butterschnitzel.

 

 

 

Those are excellent articles.  The translations are indeed usable, although have some comic notes - for instance, "devious" eggs for scrambled or whisked.  The sauce descriptions give a lot of directions to try.  I'm delighted to see variants like pumpkin seeds in the breading. Thank you.

[kayb]

I love a schnitzel (it's about the only way I care for veal). I love a pork tenderloin sandwich from a diner somewhere in downstate Illinois. I love a tonkatsu in Tokyo. But if you're in the South, particularly the Mid-South-to-Texas swatch of it, your "schnitzel" is country fried steak. Round steak, jacquarded and then pounded thin (back side of my heavy cleaver works marvelously). Salted, peppered, dipped in flour, egg wash, bread crumbs, fried in hot vegetable oil. ALWAYS sauced -- with white gravy. Served with mashed potatoes. Prepared properly, it's the food of the gods.

 

Since round steak tends toward the tough, even with jacquarding and pounding, I've taken to sous viding my naked steaks at 125 or so for three or four hours, then cooling, going through the flour/eggwash/breadcrumb treatment and frying. Pretty nearly perfect. They make a good sandwich, on a hamburger bun with spicy mayo and lots of lettuce, and I've rolled them around a stuffing like braciole and then breaded and fried as well. Or sub a tomato and onion sauce for the white gravy and call it Swiss steak. 

 

I was thinking braciole for Sunday dinner. It may be country fried steak instead.

[Tropicalsenior]

@Duvelyou're right, I've learned more about schnitzel from this discussion then I ever knew before. All the more reason to love it. I've even learned a lot from our slight disagreements. Schnitzel is kind of like meatloaf. Everyone has their own recipe, and well made meatloaf can be a thing of joy. As long as it's not like my ex mother-in-law's meatloaf. Even the dog wouldn't eat it.

[Smithy]

@kayb, I think what you describe as "Country Fried Steak" is what I know as "Chicken Fried Steak".  Has the name changed since my childhood, or is this another regional linguistic difference? I hope you'll show it off.  I detested the stuff when I had to make it at the diner where I worked one summer, and have never eaten it again.  Now I'd like to see it done right.

[kayb]

11 minutes ago, Smithy said:

@kayb, I think what you describe is what I know as "Chicken Fried Steak".  Has the name changed since my childhood, or is this another regional linguistic difference? I hope you'll show it off.  I detested the stuff when I had to make it at the diner where I worked one summer, and have never eaten it again.  Now I'd like to see it done right.

 

Same thing, different terminology, I think. I'll have to drag out the big camera and document if I do it Sunday; camera on the new cell phone is NOT very good. ,

 

There's a photo of the results here, on my blog. I may repeat that exact meal Sunday. Wish I had some fresh tomatoes to slice.

Edited February 9, 2018 by kayb
to fix link. (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

According to Dear Old Google, who incidentally isn't always right.

Quote

"What is the difference between country fried steak and chicken fried steak?

The other distinction that sometimes comes up is that, where country-fried steak is flour-dusted and usually served with brown gravy and onions, chicken-fried steak is breaded with eggs and served with cream gravy."

 I was always told that it was called chicken fried steak because the breading is reminiscent of the breading used to fry chicken.

 

Edited February 9, 2018 by Tropicalsenior
addition (log)

[kayb]

Huh. So I've been making chicken-fried steak all this time and didn't know it.

 

Pfffth, Dear Old Google. It's Country Fried Steak. 

[Smokeydoke]

@kayb I love your blog entry, that's a nice spread for a Sunday dinner.

[Toliver]

1 hour ago, BonVivant said:

Wait...she couldn't eat the whole thing?

Piker!

Amateur!

Pfftt, I say to you! 

 

34 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

According to Dear Old Google, who incidentally isn't always 

Quote

"What is the difference between country fried steak and chicken fried steak?

The other distinction that sometimes comes up is that, where country-fried steak is flour-dusted and usually served with brown gravy and onions, chicken-fried steak is breaded with eggs and served with cream gravy."

 I was always told that it was called chicken fried steak because the breading is reminiscent of the breading used to fry chicken.

Yes, this...

I used to patronize a local diner that served both types. Each version has their own merits.

[kayb]

5 minutes ago, Smokeydoke said:

@kayb I love your blog entry, that's a nice spread for a Sunday dinner.

 

Thanks! The kids enjoy mama's Sunday dinners. And I enjoy cooking them.

[cakewalk]

What do you say about vegetarian schnitzel? Can there be such a thing? Someone had posted a photo of celeriac schnitzel. They did look good. And they had a sauce! (I can't find the post to link it here.)