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).

Banana Cointreau Pancake

I was on the Ruby Princess last year.  At dinner one night, there was this delicious dessert.  Simple, yet wonderful.  Don't ask me the name though.  Seriously, I don't remember.  What I remembered, was it was made with just a few simple things really.  Vanilla ice cream, banana, lemon, sugar, and Grand Marnier.  How delightfully simple and delicious.  

When I first came home, I realized that I didn't have vanilla ice cream, and substituted it with chocolate ice cream scoops.   Nope, that did not work!  The chocolate flavor in the ice cream totally overwhelmed the delicate and subtler flavors of citrus and banana.  Nope!  After that however, I didn't remember trying to do this when I had a full tub of ice cream in my fridge.  What a silly silly person!  Yup, that's me alright!

One weekend morning, I decided that I wanted to make pancakes, crepe-like pancakes.  Ya know, like the one over here, for Strawberry Crepe Rolls.  I love just munching on the slightly sweet pancake just as is, and I love it with a crispy edge.  While she's making them, I'm always hanging around, pulling the crispy edges off from the pancakes, and leaving the softer center parts on the plate.  She would scold me, but I think deep down, she probably found that amusing.  Or at least I hope she did! hahaha

I went off on a tangent didn't I?  Ok ok, I'm back I'm back.  So, I had banana in my pantry, and I was just thinking what I should do with my Cointreau again...  Need I say more?  Let's jump in! 

Tips: 
1- Instead of Grand Marnier, I used Cointreau.  You can substitute with any orange liqueur you have or prefer.
2- The alcohol in the liqueur should have mostly been evaporated by the time it's done.  However, if you don't wanna take any chances, do try and substitute with juice from a full orange with 2 tablespoons of orange zest.
3- Pair it with lemonade would bring out the citrusy flavor even more.
4- Avoid anything too strong, like strong coffee, for it will overwhelm the softer flavors of the pancake.  I like it paired with latte however.

Banana Cointreau Pancake 

Pancake

1 cup all purpose flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 egg

pinch of salt

water (about 1-1/2 cup)

butter for pan frying (about 3 tbsp)

 

Banana Topping

2 bananas, sliced

3 tbsp sugar

1 lemon

3 tbsp Cointreau

 

Combine flour, sugar, salt, and egg in a 2-cup measuring cup.

Then fill the measuring cup with water to the 2-cup line.

Whisk and combine well.

Heat up a frying pan over medium heat with a little butter.

When the butter has melted and started bubbling a little, pour some crepe batter into the pan (about 1/4 cup).

Tilt the pan around so that the batter forms a rough circle.

Fry until the edge both sides are lightly browned.

Repeat the frying until all batter has been used up.

Combine sugar, juice from a lemon, and Cointreau in a pan, when sugar has melted and starting to bubble, add in sliced bananas.

Cook until banana slightly soften around the edge.

Plate banana and sauce over crepe and serve.

Enjoy and have a good week to come!  If you try this, let me know what you paired it with and how you like it.