Champignon Schnitzel

Mushroom Pork Cutlets
Champignon Schnitzel

Okay, the Austrian’s rule in the types of Schnitzel.  These are Pork Schnitzel (Cutlets) in Mushroom Sauce and are very good as well.  I found the recipe in one of my Austrian cookbooks.  I have translated it from German.  Thankfully my scale will give me the metric measurements.  These Schnitzel are pork, pounded thin, salted, dredged in flour on one side, browned in a pan with a little butter on both sides.  Placed in a casserole to be kept warm in the oven and then served with a mushroom sauce and parsley.  My husband was happy to have some German food again as I have not made any for a while.

Champignon Schnitzel

Austrian Pork Cutlets in Mushroom Sauce

Serves 4

Adapted from an Austrian Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 4 pork cutlets, pounded thin (or 8 if they are small)
• salt
• 4 Tbsp flour
• 5 Tbsp butter
• 4 cups sliced white button mushrooms, (or Cremini mushrooms)
• For the sauce:
• water
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 1 bundle parsley, finely minced

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Pound the cutlets with the flat side of a meat mallet until it is about 1/8 inch.  Sprinkle the cutlets with salt.  Dredge them in the flour, but only on one side.  Melt about 1 Tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Brown the cutlets on both sides and remove them to a baking dish.  Pour about half a cup of water in the skillet and use a whisk to remove the browned bits.  Pour the pan sauce over the cutlets in the baking dish and put in the oven to keep warm.  Repeat the procedure with remaining cutlets.

Melt about 1 Tbsp of butter in the skillet and cook the mushrooms until they are browned.  Add about 1 cup of water to the mushrooms and bring to a boil.  Make a paste with the remaining flour and butter, mashing them in a small bowl with a fork.  Add to the mushrooms and water.  Simmer until the sauce has reduced by about half and is not as watery.  Add the minced parsley to the sauce and pour the mushroom sauce over the cutlets that are being kept warm in the oven.  Cook for about 20 minutes or until the cutlets are tender.

Serve with a side of pasta, crusty French Bread and a vegetable.  Another great very Austrian side would be Semmelknoedel (Austrian Bread Dumplings).

Source:  Thea: Einfach Kochen Kochbuch Nr 11 Seite 59

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Hawaiian Potato Macaroni Salad

On our recent trip to Maui, we were fortunate enough to go to a Luau at the Grand Wailea Resort in Wailea.  Their luau was the best we have ever attended and the food was very good.  One offering on their buffet that I was skeptical about was their potato macaroni salad (Potato Mac for short).  How can you combine macaroni salad and potato salad and get away with that!? Isn’t that a crime?  Well, as it turns out, it is NOT a crime.  It was one of the items I most enjoyed.  I skipped the poi this time, I ate it last time and was unimpressed!  Anyway… on to the good stuff:  Hawaiian Potato Mac!  I immediately went online to find a reliable recipe.  I think I found one on allrecipes.  I did not have celery seed, so I omitted it.  Also I did not need 20 servings so I cut the recipe in half, increasing the eggs to 3 and kept the macaroni at 1 cup because in the original recipe there were more potatoes than macaroni, and at the luau it was mostly macaroni.. so here is my rendition of Hawaiian Potato Mac.

Hawaiian Potato Macaroni Salad

adapted from allrecipes

Serves 10

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 3 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup elbow macaroni
• 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp celery seed (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup finely grated carrots
• 1 cup green peas, cooked and drained
• 1/2 small SWEET onion, (like Vidalia or walla walla or maui)

Instructions:

Place the eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water.  Bring them to a boil, turn off the heat, cover with a lid and allow to sit for 10-12 minutes.  Immediately after that place the eggs in ice water. This will prevent the eggs from having a green ring around the yolk.  Chop the eggs into small dice.

Cover the potatoes with cold salted water and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce the heat to medium low to maintain a boil and cook them for about 15 minutes or until they are fork tender.  Drain them immediately and run cold water over them.  Chop the potatoes into small pieces once they are cooled.

Cook the elbow macaroni according to package directions and drain them immediately also running cold water over them to stop the cooking process.

In a medium bowl, combine the mayonnaise, red wine vinegar, curry powder, celery seed, salt, and pepper and stir to combine.  Add the finely grated carrot, cooked peas and finely minced onion to the dressing.  Gently fold the mayonnaise dressing with the chopped eggs, cooled macaroni, and cooled potatoes.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

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