Rahmschnitzel mit Pommes Frites und Kirschtomaten

Guten Tag!  I love me some schnitzel, and that recent German trip was a blast in that sense!  All sorts of schnitzels, more than I could count.  However, I'm still terrible when it comes to cooking a good schnitzel wiener, or pork schnitzel.  So back home here, I used chicken, which technically should be called Hähnchenschnitzel, instead.  So why didn't I call it Hähnchenschnitzel then?  Well, see, I also serve it with mushroom cream sauce, as I have previously promised darling hubby during his recovery from wisdom teeth extraction.  We seem to crave what we're not allowed to eat.  Anyway, I was torn.  I almost named the title "Marrying Hähnchenschnitzel und Rahmschnitzel", but that doesn't sound quite correct...  Hence the above name, Cream Schnitzel with Potato Fries and Cherry Tomato. 

Tips:
1- If you pound your chicken steak into a more consistent thickness, it will cook more evenly.
2- I prefer panko, Japanese bread crumbs, for its crunchiness, but you can use any types of bread crumbs you prefer.

3- I prefer chicken leg meat for its tenderness, but feel free to substitute with chicken breast meat if you prefer.

Rahmschnitzel mit Pommes Frites und Kirschtomaten 

Schnitzel:
2 pieces chicken leg meat
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup panko
1-2 cups oil for frying

2 cups store bought french fries
Cherry tomatoes

Sauce:
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup milk

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
salt and pepper to taste

Clean and de-fat chicken leg meat.
Using a meat tenderizer, pound the meat until roughly similar in thickness.
Lightly beat salt, pepper, and eggs together.
Heat up frying oil in a pan over medium-high heat.
Dredge leg meat through all purpose flour, egg, and panko (in this order).
Pan fry leg meat until golden brown.

Oven bake/fry french fries according to box instructions.

In a small pan over medium heat, melt butter and mix in flour, and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring all the while.
Stir in milk and mushroom.
Stir constantly until you have a consistent and smooth texture.

Ladle sauce over chicken and serve with cherry tomatoes and french fries.  Best served with German beer ;)  Personally I prefer colabier (mixture of cola and beer) or radler (mixture of lemon soda and beer).

Curry Curry Night: Chicken Curry, Bak Kut Sooi, & Five Spice Tofu Stirfry

Anyone else cooked curry on August 21st?  For those who aren't familiar with news in Singapore, where many of my friends are from, here's a quick summary from Temasek Review Emeritus.

I'm not trying to get political on any sides.  I'm not a Singaporean, I'm not associated with any event creators or any parties directly involved in the original hoo-ha.  I'm merely a fellow Earthling, who has Singaporean friends and relatives, who enjoys different sorts of curries, who believes that anyone has the right to cook whatever cultural dish they want to.  I'm writing this from a stand point of a cook.

I'll make and eat nato (Japanese fermented soybean), kimchee (Korean fermented cabbage), sauerkraut (German fermented cabbage), stinky tofu (a type of Chinese tofu dish), menudo (Mexican dish made with beef stomach), or curry if I like.  It's not as if I'm going cannibalistic and start eating fellow human flesh here.  So what's up with eating what I want and most importantly, cooking something that's intimately linked to my culture?

Anyone who knows belacan knows how strong it smells.  Belacan is a type of shrimp paste, an essential ingredient used in many Southeast Asian dishes.  Its smell can be described as pungent or fragrant, depending on if you like it or not.  On occasion, I still cook with belacan.  I'm lucky I don't live in HDB flat (flats are the English equivalent for the American apartment), where every many units are in close proximity.  However, I dare anyone to try pan frying belacan or making sambal belacan in their home with windows closed and then tell me their house does not smell.  Regardless of how great your love for belacan, you will find not only your hair and clothes smells like belacan, your whole house will smell like it.  That is why we love our stoves near the window.

 

I'm not Indian by ethnicity, I can't imagine being told not to cook curry, or in this case, only cook when the neighbors are not around.  But I can imagine being told not to cook with belacan, or only to cook belacan when my neighbors are gone.  If that were to be the case, that would mean I would almost never get to cook it.  Cripes!  Can you imagine being told not to cook a dish that's so intimately linked to your culture?  It's like being told to BBQ only when your neighbors are not home.  Or being told to cook chile relleno only when your neighbors are away.  Or being told to cook (insert cultural dish here) only when your neighbors are away.

Anyway, my point is, food is one of the most unifying factors that crosses countries and boundaries.  In fact, in my humble opinion, it is the factor that can unite people across the globe.  There are steakhouses in Asia, sushi restaurants in America, pizzas in Australia, kebob sold in Europe, crepes sold in Japan.  Let's cook and eat to be friendlier with each other, not against each other.  So here's a pot of curry that I share with all who visits this page.  Let's be friends, not enemies.

Cranberry Sauce and Swedish Meatballs

We don't have cable TV at home.  Yup, we only watched four out of over 50 channels:   Discovery Channel, Food Channel, History Channel, and National Geographic Channel.  On top of that, the only time we watch TV is probably around meal time.  So we've cut off cable service.  Since then, PBS and Create are almost permanently on our TV when its on.  Well, except when we're watching our favorite dramas at night or during World Cup season.  hehe...  Anyway, when I was tuning in to Create one morning, I saw this lady making Swedish meatballs.  My mind instantly skidded to a halt in front of the blue and yellow building of Ikea.  Sadly, there are no Ikeas in Colorado, but not for long though.... heeeeh!  A new Ikea is coming to town this fall.  Yay!

Now, I haven't had Swedish meatballs for quite a while now, and was just missing it quite a bit.  The show must have read my mind.  Seriously!  Although, I must say that as I was getting ready to jot down the ingredients they used, I realized that the ingredients were (to me) "some" this and "a little" that.  I gave up trying to write anything down, and went online instead to look up some recipes.  I did finish watching the show to learn the basic process and techniques used for the dish.  After comparing some online recipes, I decided on Scandinavian Cooking's recipe.

Now, the other dilemma I had, was the sauce.  I like pairing the meatballs with lingonberry sauce.  Again, sadly, no Ikea, thus no lingonberry sauce.  sigh...  I was almost giving up and going to make a brown sauce for it instead, when Eureka!  Cranberries!  Cranberries went on sale after new year and I got a bag of it sitting in my fridge.  Gave myself a little imaginary pat on the back, and went straight to the kitchen, feeling pretty happy with myself.  Maybe even humming a happy little tune on the way down the staircase...

Tips:

1- You can either choose to pan fry it or oven bake the meatballs.  According to Scandinavian Cooking's article, pan frying will give you a "better result".  I baked them this time, and it came out pretty alright.

2- If you are baking, remember to adjust your baking time to complement your meatball size.  I made two batches, the first batch was about 1-1/4" in diameter and the second batch was smaller at about 3/4" diameter.  The first batch came out okay at about 13 minutes in the oven.  While the second batch, came out too dry because I forgot to readjust the baking time.

3- If you made too much, just freeze them up and save them in airtight containers or ziplock bags.  Heat up the meatballs when you need some Scandinavian Cooking suggests that the meatballs be reheated for 10-15 minutes at 375°F "in a single layer on an ungreased rimmed baking sheet".

4- Certain recipes will call for a mix of beef, pork, and/or veal.  You can decide on the types of mixture you prefer.  However, this meatball recipe is supposed to be quite tender.  So I would suggest trying to avoid using meats that are too lean.  

5- Using fresh bread as filler gives a pretty good result, so if you have some fresh breads, use those if you have them, otherwise, bread crumbs, flour, or mashed potatoes works too.

6- When baking, use a baking tray with rims, not baking sheets, because there will be some liquid bubbling out during the baking process.

6- If you're making them at the same time, start with the cranberry sauce, and while it's simmering and cooling down, make the meatballs.

Swedish Meatballs (slightly adapted from this recipe)

1lb minced meat (pork, beef, and/or veal)

1 egg

1/2 cup half and half (milk, cream, or water is also fine)

1 cup torn bread or mashed potatoes, or 1/2 cup bread crumbs or all purpose flour

pinch of salt and pepper to taste

1/2 onion, finely minced

mustard to taste (about 1/8 tsp)

Mix all ingredients together until well-mixed, then form into balls of about 1-1/2 inch diameter.

Pan fry over medium high heat in a little oil until browned on all sides.

Place the meatballs about 1 to 1-1/2 inch apart on parchment lined baking tray, and bake in 450°F oven for about 13 minutes.

Cranberry Sauce

1 bag  (12 oz) cranberries

1-3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

1 cinnamon stick (~2 inches long)

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Rinds and juice from 1 orange

Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan.

Boil over medium high heat for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until thickened.

Remove from heat and cool on cooling rack.

Enjoy and hopefully you'll enjoy this recipe as much as I did ^.^