Serves: 2 | Prep & Cook Time: 1 hr
Hardware
- Small sauté pan or sauce pot (2-4qt)
- Large sauté pan (4-6qt)
- A mallet of discipline
- A Sharp Knife 🙂
Ingredients
Pork Schnitzel (AKA Porky’s Last Stand)
- 2 Boneless Pork Chops (cutlets) pounded ¼” thin
- 1 C all-purpose flour
- 1 T salt
- 1 t freshly ground black pepper
- 1 t powdered garlic
- 1 t paprika
- 1 egg lithely beaten (pirouette and flourish optional) 4
- 1/2 C milk
- 1 C panko bread crumbs1
- 4 T clarified butter or ghee (for frying pork)
Mushroom Gravy
- 1/2 pound bacon, diced
- 1/2 C Flour
- 1/2 minced yellow onion, approximately 1/2 C
- 2 C sliced button mushrooms
- ½ C red wine 2
- white optional
- even more optional (and interesting): Bavarian Beer
- yes, dark vinegar is aUtHeNtic.
- 2 Cs beef stock 3
- chicken stock if using white wine
- 2 T unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 t Bottled German or French (Dijon) mustard
- 2 T chopped fresh Flat leaf parsley
Directions
Prepping Porky
- Pound pork between sheets of plastic wrap to 1/4-inch thickness.
- Mise en place: Set up three shallow bowls, or small (about 3 cup) casserole dishes. To the right of the third dish, place a baking sheet. Then from left to right:
- Bowl 1: mix together the 3/4 C flour with salt, pepper, garlic and paprika.
- Bowl 2: combine egg, milk.
- Bowl 3: panko crumbs.
- Then prepare each pork slice left to right:
- Dredge pork slice in flour and shake
- Then in egg wash,
- Then pat into the crumbs (pat, not press)…
- And rest on baking sheet in fridge for ~10min.
Mushroom Sauce
- In a medium saute pan over medium heat cook the bacon until crispy. Remove and drain on paper towels.
- In same pan with bacon fat, add onions and sauté for until translucent.
- Add mushrooms and continue to sauté until soft.
- Stir in flour. Continue to stir until you have a blonde roux.
- Stir in the wine and cook to reduce by 1/3
- Then add stock and reduce by 1/3 again.
- Add butter, stirring until it has melted.
- Season with salt, pepper, mustard and parsley to taste.
- Turn off the heat and cover sauté pan, or transfer to a service container.
Cooking Porky
- Heat some clarified butter in a sauté pan to 350F. There should be enough to almost cover the cutlets.
- Gently place each cutlet and fry each side until golden brown. Remove cutlets and reserve on a cooling rack.
- Service: Plate the cutlet either alone or on some rice, spaetzle or potatoes. Cover generously with Mushroom Sauce. Garnish with the bacon and fresh parsley.
Notes
- Panko: I like the texture this brings to most fried foods, but you don’t need to make a special trip for it. Crushed crackers, or even toasted, stale ground bread will work (and would actually be more traditional)
- Wine: Coppola Cabernet or Chardonnay would work. Riesling also works but will be sweeter (not a bad thing in this case).
- Stock: I usually go with low/no salt stock or even bone-broth.
- 1 egg beaten… I know it’s a typo, and I thought it was damn funny (it’s been a long day)
- You can use a neutral oil instead of clarified butter (like refined safflower oil)
- Yes, you probably should double the gravy recipe and serve with Spaetzle (or freeze some, roux-based gravies reheat well)
- Alcohol – I mean… what do you want to play against the deep-fried meat? That’s the question (aside from what you do you have access to). Do you want tangy? Vinegar or Red. Sweet? White Riesling. Deep and earthy? Bavarian.
- If you come away from this thinking “this is good, but very rich and not much contrast”, I would suggest taking a note from the Swedish and pair with lingonberry jam, or a very sharp and punchy cheddar, shredded.
I cannot stress nor overstate how fundamental Mise en place is in the kitchen; essential when dealing with raw meats or high-temp wok cooking. Learn it, live it.
Love, Jimi