Originally published on February 8, 2014
I fell in love with schnitzel many moons ago. We served it at a gourmet cafe that I worked at, although we served veal instead of pork. I have to admit, I was adamantly against eating veal when I first started working there. Ya know, the whole forcing baby animals to be practically immobile thing. But, I’m shamed to say, the veal schnitzel we made look so darned good, and I’d stare longingly at it in the pan every time an order came in. One day, when my resolve was weak and an especially tasty-looking shipment of veal came in, I gave in. On my lunch hour that day, I ordered the veal and quietly took it downstairs to eat in the lunchroom, shrouded in shame.
When I was done, I realized there was no going back after you’ve gone against your own resolve – and I’ve been happily eating veal ever since. If I could get my husband to eat it, we would have had veal schnitzel here instead of pork. And while I believe this recipe is typically made with pork chops, tenderloin is what I had in my fridge, so that’s what was used.
Ingredients:
1 pork tenderloin
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Salt
Pepper
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons milk
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon paprika
3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
3/4 cup chicken stock
2 teaspoons fresh dill, chopped
1/2 cup sour cream
Directions:
1.) Slice the tenderloin into 1″ rounds. One by one, place each round between two sheets of plastic wrap and with a rolling pin or a meat mallet, pound to an even thickness of about 1/8″ – super thin.
2.) Set up a breading station with three bowls. In the first bowl place the flour, salt, and pepper. In the second bowl place the egg and milk beaten together slightly, and in the third bowl place the bread crumbs and paprika.
3.) One by one, dip a portion of the meat into the flour, coating thoroughly and then shaking off excess. Place right into the egg mixture, entirely coating the meat, and then allow excess to drip off. Place into the bread crumb mixture, coat entirely, and shake off excess. Place schnitzel aside, and then continue with the remaining pieces of meat.
4.) When all meat has been breaded, place oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When heat, add schnitzel into the pan, being sure not to overcrowd them; work in batches if you have to. Cook the schnitzel for about three minutes on one side, then flip and cook for about two more minutes. When pieces have finished cooking, set aside and tent with foil to keep warm.
5.) With the skillet still hot, add chicken stock and scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Turn heat down, and add in sour cream and dill. Stir to heat through, but make sure the mixture does not come to a boil.
6.) Arrange schnitzel on a platter and drizzle the sour cream sauce over top.
7.) Serve and enjoy!