Cooking With You: Mike Kohn

Ingredients:

 

Boneless pork chops, the thinner the better
1 cup of flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 eggs, beaten well
1 cup of fine bread crumbs
1/4 cup lard (or oil, shortening, whatever is your pleasure)
1/4 cup white wine
1 T capers (the little pickled flower buds, not the Packers defensive coordinator)
2 T butter
2 lemons
Chopped parsley (for garnish)

 

This is for Vom Schwein, which means, simply, Pork Schnitzel.  But you can use Veal (Wiener Schnitzel) or Chicken as well.  Place each boneless cutlet in a ziplock bag, one at a time, unsealed.  Whack the cutlet repeatedly with the bottom of a heavy, flat pan until it's about 1/4 to 1/5 inch thick.  This tenderizes the cutlet and gets it to the proper thickness for Schnitzel.  Remove from the bag and set aside, repeat for each cutlet.  Heat 1/4 cup of lard in a large pan, on medium-low.  Lard is traditional in making Schnitzel, but use whatever you wish--oil, shortening, etc.  You don't want this at the usual deep-frying temperature but rather around 230 or so.  The exact temp isn't critical, somewhere between low and medium will suffice.

Arrange a bowl and two small plates thusly, in a row:  Plate with the flour and salt/pepper mixed in, bowl with the 2 whipped eggs, plate with the breadcrumbs on it.  Dredge the cutlet through the flour, then into the egg mixture, then gently roll in the breadcrumbs.  Resist the temptation to press the breadcrumbs into the cutlet, the coating should puff nicely around the cutlet, not adhere tightly to it.  When all of your cutlets are breaded thusly, fry in the lard for about 3-4 minutes each side, flipping when the bottom is golden brown.  Remove and transfer to a serving plate.

 

Add 2 T of Butter to the frying pan, swirl about till melted.  Then remove from heat and add the 1/4 cup of white wine to deglaze the pan.  Squeeze 1/2 of a lemon into the pan and add the capers, swirl about until well mixed and drizzle over the plate of cutlets.  Save off extra to a small sauce dish for drizzling over Spaetzle.   Garnish the serving platter with chopped parsley and lemon wedges and serve immediately, along with side dishes like Rotkohl and Spaetzle!