Pork Schnitzel

My all-time favorite time of year is the end September, beginning of October. Coincidentally, it is also around the same time as Oktoberfest!!! It is my excuse every year to treat myself to all the food and drink from German culture that I love so much. Spaten or Hofbrau beer, German potato dumplings, pickled red cabbage, meat and cheese trays, oh and currywurst!, really any kind of wurst and the list goes on. Read my About page to find out more about my love of German culture.

There was no question, when I had decided to start my own blog and started writing down recipes that schnitzel would be one of the first recipes. I love schnitzel so much, my husband and I served it at our wedding! Unfortunately, the place no longer exists, but they really came through for our special day. Oh my, now I’m hungry.

A great thing about this recipe is that it is fairly quick to make and can feed a small army when served with sides and drink. For this recipe, I decided to go with pork schnitzel. I went to my local Beef Mart. I usually go here when I entertain, it’s the whole experience of getting fresh local meat and coming home and unwrapping the white paper plastic wrapping like a present. 🙂

Today I grabbed 3 already butterflied pork chops. When I got home, I grabbed each pork chop and put it on a large cutting board and cut down the middle of each butterflied pork chop, following where the butcher scored it. Then placed a piece of plastic wrap over the pork chop (some people place one piece above and below the pork, but for me, this created an air vacuum and ended up tearing the plastic-so do what works best for you), grab a meat mallet and using the flat side pound the piece of pork into submission, about 1/4 inch thick. Halfway through, cut off any fat that might be around the edges of the pork chop, you will not want that when you start frying or else your pork chop will start to curl. You will be surprised how large the pork chop becomes when you flatten it, each side of the pork chop will quickly become one large piece of meat. yummm.

Once the meat has been flattened, set out your assembly line items (shown above). You will need a plate of flour, a bowl of egg and one plate of breading. The 2 eggs will need to be slightly beaten. Also, I always try to add fresh ingredients wherever I can, so in the breading, I added finely chopped thyme, marjoram and parsley and mixed. Also, you can add a dash of salt and pepper to the flour for seasoning.  First dip the freshly pounded pork in the flour covering both sides. Next, pull the meat through the egg so that it is fully coated.  Finally, run the meat through the breading.

Look at the massive piece of meat (shown above)! I love the bits of green from the fresh herbs. Quick tip: when putting the meat through the breading part, make sure not to press down on the meat, just keep sliding the meat on top until it has formed a small coating of breading.

Next put the oil in the pan to start frying, and you will need enough oil to let the schnitzel swim in the oil. Make sure you heat the oil to 330 degrees. A deep fry or candy thermometer works well for telling what temperature your oil is at. Once you’ve reached this temperature, gently place the schnitzel in the pan, one or two at a time. I set a timer for 1 minute 30 on each side and then remove them and place on a plate with paper towels. I also like to cut fresh parsley and squeeze a little lemon on top. That is optional for you though.

Enjoy!

Prep Time is 5 minutes per schnitzel

Cook time is 3 minutes per schnitzel

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