My German Heritage Recipes - Wiener Schnitzel

This is one of those traditional German recipes, handed down from one generation to the next in my family.  I don't know if it began with all the same ingredients or not.  And the best I can tell; it goes back about 3 generations.  The oldest one I found was dated 1899.  It was written in "Broken English", but appeared to have the same ingredients and directions.

Farmer Boy Wiener Schnitzel

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. - Veal - thinly sliced to abut 1/2 inch (You can substitute pork, beef or chicken.  Here, in the Ozarks - outside of the German communities, you can't find Veal!)
• 1/2 Cup of milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 Cup of bread crumbs or cracker crumbs (I like the cracker crumbs)
• 2-4 Tablespoons of cooking oil (I prefer to use Peanut Oil)
• Lemon Juice (about the juice of one lemon)

Directions: With a kitchen mallet, pound out the meat to about 1/4 inch or less.  Cut into individual serving sizes of about 3 by 5 inches each.  Combine the milk and the slightly beaten egg.  Dip each piece into the liquid and then dredge in the crumbs.  Gently drop each piece on a hot, oiled skillet.  Cook on medium high heat for about 1 to 2 minutes, (till gently browned) then turn over and cook the other side to the same degree.  Just before removing from the heat, drizzle some lemon juice on top of each piece.  Drain on paper towels.  You can top with gravy, if you wish.  (A quick gravy can be made with some of the pan drippings, butter and flour, combined with a little milk.)

This is expecially good served over homemade German noodles, called "Spaetzle".  So, here is a "Bonus Recipe":

Farmer Boy Spaetzle

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 1/8 Cup of water
• 1 Cup of all-purpose flour with 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
• pot of boiling water and a large-holed colander

Directions:

Mix the eggs and the 1/8 cup of water together.  Add to the flour mixture to form a dough.  Pour the dough into the colander, held over the pan of boiling water.  Push the dough through the colander, by large mixing spoonful at a time.  The noodles should be about 1/2 inch in length.  Cook in the boiling water for a couple of minutes.  Remove from the water and they are ready to serve.  If you wish, you may take the noodles and drop them into melted butter in a skillet and lightly brown them with a pinch of celery salt and onion powder.

Spaetzle are versatile and are a good side dish with many meals; expecially German meals with Sauerkraut!

If you make these recipes, please let us all know by leaving a comment here.  Thanks. The Old Man in the Bib Overalls