Wiener Schnitzel

I found myself staring at a pound of veal cutlets from the butcher. I hadn't opened the package, but I have yet to find something from my butcher that isn't gorgeous. But what to make with it? If I had more I could have done this or that or the other. But a pound for two people limits what you can do. Then I thought- well, I haven't had Wiener schnitzel in a few years. Seemed like a good idea. I unwrapped the package to find that the butcher had actually sliced the veal into 6-7mm thick large slices. It seemed that he also thought that schnitzel would be appropriate.

You'll need:

1 pound veal

2 big eggs

flour

breadcrumbs

2 sticks butter.

If you aren't lucky like me to have thin veal, you'll need to butterfly the meat and pound it flat with a mallet. You're going for really thin- 1/4th-1/3rd of an inch for my fellow Americans.

Dredge the veal in flour. Whip the eggs. Coat the veal in the eggs. Gently dredge the veal in the breadcrumbs- don't press the breadcrumbs into the meat (it moistens them and prevents them from getting crispy). 

Melt a stick of butter in a saute pan. You should have enough veal to split into four batches. Put batch one into the pan for 4-5 minutes, then flip for another 4-5 minutes. Remove to a paper-towel covered plate. Repeat for second batch. By this point, the butter in the pan will be getting a bit icky. Pour it into the sink. Melt second stick of butter and repeat process.

Serve with freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Some notes: traditionally you cook the schnitzel in clarified butter, but I can't be bothered. Feel free to use more butter- if possible, you want to use enough that the meat is pretty much floating in the butter. 

I found myself without breadcrumbs, but that veal had to be made. Searching the cabinets frantically, I found that we had a large can of crispbread from my sister's recent visit. I dropped most of it into my mortar and bashed it until it became breadcrumbs. Very flavorful! I have to recommend playing around with different kinds of bread, it really adds to the recipe.