Penguin Buffets Classic Israeli Schnitzel Recipe Epicuriouscom Recipes

PENGUIN BUFFET'S CLASSIC ISRAELI SCHNITZEL

Steps:

• 1. Place one cutlet at a time inside a large plastic bag. With a meat mallet, pound the turkey or chicken slice as thin as possible and season well with salt and pepper.
• 2. Spread the flour on a flat plate. Break the eggs into a pie plate and beat well. Put the bread crumbs on a third plate.
• 3. Pour the oil into a heavy skillet to a depth of 1 inch and heat over a medium flame until almost smoking.
• 4. Dip each turkey or chicken breast in flour, then in egg, and then in bread crumbs.
• 5. Fry the schnitzels for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until golden brown.
• 6. Drain the schnitzels on a plate lined with paper towel. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.
• NOTE: You can also bake the breaded schnitzels in a 350-degree oven for a few minutes ahead of time. Then, just before serving, deep-fry quickly to crisp the outside.
• • This dish, a variation on veal schnitzel from Central Europe, is a classic example of the transformations common in Israeli cooking. Before Israel's swamps were drained in the 1950s to irrigate the desert, there was not enough grassland to pasture cows. Thus the first Central European Jewish settlers adapted one of their native dishes to use turkey meat, more easily raised in desert conditions. Subsequent immigrants have added twists from their own backgrounds, such as Yemeni Jews adding the Middle Eastern spice blend hawayij.

WIENER SCHNITZEL

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200°F. Set out the flour, bread crumbs, and beaten eggs on plates or in shallow bowls next to each other on your counter and have a stack of parchment or wax paper ready. Season the eggs liberally with salt and pepper.
• Dredge the cutlets, one at a time, in the egg, then the flour, then dip in the egg again, then dredge in the bread crumbs. Stack the breaded cutlets between layers of wax paper and, when all the veal is breaded, transfer the stack to chill in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes and up to 3 hours.
• Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat until a pinch of flour dropped into the pan sizzles. Cook in batches as necessary, making sure not to crowd the pan, adding fat to the pan as needed. Turn the cutlets as soon as they're browned, then cook the other side. The total cooking time should be 5 minutes or less. As each piece of veal is done, transfer it to an ovenproof platter; place the platter in the oven.
• Serve as soon as all the cutlets are cooked, garnished with the parsley and with the lemon wedges on the side.
• Cotolette alla Milanese "Veal Cutlets Milan Style" (Italy)
• Simply omit the parsley and you have the Italian classic on which veal Parmigiana-really quite an American dish-with its topping of cheese and tomato sauce, is based.

JOAN NATHAN'S CLASSIC ISRAELI SCHNITZEL

Steps:

• Place one cutlet at a time inside a large plastic bag. With a meat mallet, pound the turkey or chicken slice as thin as possible and season well with salt and pepper.
• Spread the flour on a flat plate. Break the eggs into a pie plate and beat well. Put the bread crumbs on a third plate.
• Pour the oil into a heavy skillet to a depth of 1 inch and heat over a medium flame until almost smoking.
• Dip each turkey or chicken breast in flour, then in egg, and then in bread crumbs.
• Fry the schnitzels for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Drain the schnitzels on a plate lined with paper towel. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.