SCHNITZEL THAT THE ITALIANS CALL CUTLETS (#18)

When I was growing up with an Italian mother,  sometimes we would have veal cutlets for dinner.  They were delicious and could be either eaten as a separate dish or put in between two slices of fresh Italian bread.  While I was teaching at Madison High School I was enlisted to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner for some 125 students and teachers at a three day German camp under the direction of  Don Strother, the German teacher. Only German was spoken at the camp except in the kitchen where I presided (and was German ignorant!)  One of the meals I made was German Schnitzel, a large version of Italian cutlets.  In Germany this dish was called Weiner Schnitzel (in English Veal Schnitzel).  Because of the cost of veal, I used pork which (in German is called Swine Schnitzel).  I will be giving you another great recipe that I cooked at that camp at another time. By the way I always looked into the garbage can after the meal  to see how full it was; which is a way to tell how much they liked what they ate. Thankfully it was always almost empty! The following is the schnitzel recipe I used for the German students and the adults: I am including on the bottom of the schnitzel recipe;  a recipe for saurkraut and one for apple sauce that most real chefs would call a disgrace because of their simpleness but they do work for non real chefs

INGREDIENTS:
   2 lbs pork sirloin pieces (about 6 to 8 pieces)
   if your a purist you can use real veal to make weiner schnitzel
   3 cups Italian style bread crumbs
   5 cloves of garlic minced and put
   into the bread crumbs 
   1/4 cup parmesean cheese also put into bread crumbs
   3 cups of flour put in a shallow bowl
   3 eggs (mixed and put into a shallow bowl
   8 oz of  milk or buttermilk

DIRECTIONS:
    1. put each piece of pork sirloin slices into a large plastic
        zip lock bag and pound it very thin less than a 1/4 inch without
       tearing it (although the world will not end if you
       do) with either a heavy meat mallet or even use
       a flat bottom glass vinegar bottle or the equivelent
       and set aside.
    2. using a fork dredge each piece in flour, than
        than put into egg mixture including milk or buttermilk; then back
        to flour; then back into egg mixture;
        then put into bread crumbs and set aside (if feeding many
       put plastic in between layers of breaded meat
    3. using a large fry pan put about 1/2 inch of
        oil (peanut, or canola, or oilive oil; put
        burner on medium high heat and when the
        oil is hot drop a small piece of breading in and
        if it starts bubbling; using a large fork put
        several pieces of  breaded meat into the oil
        (don't over crowd meat and it is not necessary
        to cover) and cook for about
        some 5 minutes and turn over and cook the
        other side. (check doneness by cutting into a
        piece of the meat; if it is pink cook until it is not
        pink (be careful not to get the outside to dark
        even to remove the fry pan off the burner and
        allow it to cool slightly then put it back to continue
        cooking
    4. usually the Germans usually served saurkraut and
        apple sauce with schnitzel

SAURKRAUT:
   INGREDIENTS:
      a lb bag of saurkraut
      2 medium onions minced
      1 cup of  brown sugar
      (optional)- 1 tab of caraway seeds
DIRECTIONS:
      1. in a large fry pan put a half cup of oil
          on medium heat
      2. brown the onions adding the caraway
          seed if you wish
      3. add the brown sugar and stir until all is
          combined (about ten minutes or so)
          and serve

APPLE SAUCE;
    INGREDIENTS:
     3 lbs of apples, peeled and cut into
     pieces
     1 cup of water
     1 cup of brown sugar
     1 tab of cinnamon
   DIRECTIONS:
     1. put apples in a large
         sauce pan with the cup of
         water over medium heat (cover)
         (cook about 10 to 15 minutes
         crushing apples somewhat)
     2. add brown sugar and cinnamon
         and continue to stir until you are
        happy with the applesauce!
     3. it is customary to put some apple
         sauce on the schnitzel
INCIDENTLY, FOR SCHNITZEL YOU CAN LEAVE OUT THE GARLIC AND FOR ITALIAN CUTLETS, CUT
THE POUNDED MEAT IN HALF BEFORE BREADING  AND PUT IN GARLIC IN THE BREADCRUMBS
ENJOY!