Schnitzel - Wienerschnitzel - Vienna Schnitzel

Directions

1. Cutlet Preparation: Remove any sinew, silver skin, or gristle.
2. If using plastic bag, put the cutlet inside the bag. Place on cutting board. If using plastic wrap, place cutlet between folded over piece. The idea is to keep the cutlet inside the plastic to reduce splatter and mess.
3. Using the meat mallet (smooth end), pound the cutlet in the middle while also pushing slightly outwards. This should cause the meat to stretch as you are pounding and make for a better pounded cutlet. Avoid breaking through the meat. Pound in a center to outside (circling) motion until the cutlet is uniformly about 1/4 inch thick. Set cutlet aside and repeat this for all the cutlets.
4. Salt and pepper cutlets to taste before breading.
5. In 3 different pie pans (or plates), add ingredients as follows to prepare for breading. 1) flour 2) eggs (beaten) 3) flour or breading. Note: If you want a light coating, use flour for step 3. If you want a heavier coating, used breading (bread crumbs or corn flake crumbs) for step 3.
6. Following same procedure, bread each cutlet thoroughly. 1) Dredge in flour (pie pan 1) 2) Wash in eggs (pie pan 2) 3) dredge in flour or breading (pie pan 3). Make sure in each step, the cutlet is fully covered. Repeat step as necessary to ensure coverage.
7. Cooking the cutlets: Heat the sauté pan to medium heat, add 2 cups of oil and then butter. The oil will provide for higher temperature cooking, while the butter will add flavor. Avoid burning the butter. Allow oil to come to temperature.
8. Place 1-2 cutlets into the oil sauté pan...do not over crowd the pan. Cook the first side of the cutlets for 4-6 minutes. Turn cutlets. Cook on the second side side for 4-6 minutes....do not over brown or burn the cutlets, this can happen really quickly.
9. Remove from oil and allow excess oil to drip off. Then put on plate. These cutlets are ready to serve. Continue this process until all cutlets are completed. If you are doing a lot, you can place the finished cutlets in a low temp oven (170° (F)).
10. Serve the Wienerschnitzel. You can garnish with some parsley and/or a slice of lemon.

From the Dahoam1516 recipe collection · Hans Diehl