Schnitzel with Salsa

One of our favorite memories from four years of living in Germany was the sound of heavy thumping from restaurant kitchens when we put in an order for Wiener schnitzel, something we did with regularity. What that noise meant was that a heavy-set German woman was back there pounding the chicken into thin cutlets. I always pictured with her doing this with her fists, or maybe even her elbows.

We always ordered chicken schnitzel, and I’m not sure if we ever actually saw Wiener, or veal, schnitzel on the menu. Schnitzel was most often served with pommes frites, or French fries. One restaurant served the pommes for children in a swan shaped piece of tin foil – very chic.

My brother calls this dish chicken Milanese, which as far as I can tell is the same thing as schnitzel, or as we say in the states, breaded chicken cutlet.

 Mark Bittman, author of “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian,” has a recipe for vegetarian cutlets made from a bean or tofu mixture using the exact dipping and breading method. He suggests serving them either 1) with lemon wedges, 2) Parmesan style with tomato sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, or 3) wrapped in large lettuce leaves and drizzled with a lime-ginger-garlic sauce or a basil dipping sauce.

The Germans served schnitzel with lemon wedges, so that’s what I do too. Tonight we had salsa on top as well and I must admit that I liked that even better than the lemon.

Everything is neat and tidy to begin. Dip the chicken pieces first in egg whites and then in panko bread crumbs.

Things become a bit messy as the process continues.



Cookbooks say to let the cutlets air dry for a minute or two.

 

You can't beat cherry crisp for dessert. -- so easy with frozen cherries. (That's thickened yogurt on top. Recipe here.)