Wiener Schnitzel

Well, I have to admit that I anticipated writing about once a week, but everyone can thank my buddy Ray for this because I have another recipe to share. Ray pointed out that I didn't add a dinner or dessert recipe yet so here is the dinner recipe.

Tonight, I made myself Wiener Schnitzel for dinner just as my Mom made for my family growing up. Now let me start by saying that this isn't a tradition recipe more than my own re-imagination of it.

As I did before, let's break down the recipe. Worth noting that all measurements for this recipe should be scaled based on the amount you are cooking.

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 25 Minutes

1 Package of Thin Sliced Veal (about 4 pieces which I cut into smaller portions)

6 Eggs

1 1/2 cups of Seasoned Breadcrumbs (this is based heavily on how much you make so start with less and use more as necessary)

Salt & Pepper to Taste

Olive Oil for frying

Optional:

Fresh Lemon or Lemon Juice

1. First, remove the veal from the package and rinse under water to ensure the meat is a clean as possible. You may now slice the veal into smaller pieces if the cutlets are over-sized.

2. Once the cutlets are cleaned, you will want to set up a bowl and a plate. The bowl will be filled with 2 of the eggs beaten (this is to coat the veal so that the breadcrumbs will stick). I usually add salt and pepper to the beaten eggs for extra flavor. The plate will be used to hold a size-able portion of breadcrumbs (again, you don't need to put all of the breadcrumbs here at once. Try adding a small portion and adding as needed to reduce waste).

3. Dip the cleaned veal cutlets into the egg and transfer to the breadcrumb plate. Ensure the entire cutlet is covered. Repeat this process for the remainder of the cutlets.

4. Heat up your frying pan with a even coating of olive oil so that the bottom of the pan is coated (you will need to add more between batches). Make sure that the oil is hot before dropping the veal in (I cooked the veal on medium heat). Place the cutlets into the frying pan and carefully watch each to make sure that they don't overcook. If you are using thin sliced veal as I did, each side will start to brown in just over a minute so be careful (if you flip early, don't worry - you can always flip again). One last note is that you will notice that each additional pan full of veal will appear more "burnt" than the first batch. This is very normal as the initial breadcrumb that fell off of the veal will continue to brown in the pan. I don't mind this as it doesn't alter the flavor but if the appearance turns you off, you can definitely wipe the pan between batches.

5. Once the veal has cooked, place the finished pieces on a plate which is covered with a layer of paper towels (these will help to absorb excess oil while cooling). Here comes the optional step: if you are making a large number of cutlets and aren't comfortable with multitasking, feel free to heat your oven to about 225F and placed the finished cutlets in the oven to keep warm until you have finished all of the veal. If you have a smaller amount of veal or you are ok with the challenge, you can avoid the oven step. Also, this is a good time to squeeze the lemon on to the veal should you desire.

6. Heat up another skillet which you will use for the egg topping layer. Now, as you will see from my pictures, I topped my veal with just the egg whites from the remaining 4 eggs but that is just because I prefer the taste of egg whites - but you can cook the eggs however you wish. Cook the eggs in the frying pan in small portions (the approximate size to cover the veal cutlets). Once cooked (should only take a few moments), transfer the egg on top of the veal cutlet.

7. Once eat piece of veal has a portion of egg, feel free to add some black pepper to taste. There you have it - my interpretation of Wiener Schnitzel. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.