Schnitzel und Spaetzle

SCHNITZEL
6-8 pork loin cutlets
1 1/2 cups flour
2-3 eggs beaten
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
3 sheets of wax paper (about 2 ft. long)
Salt
Lemon
Peanut oil

Take one slice of pork meat at a time

and place it on one side of a sheet of wax paper.  Fold over the wax paper other side onto the top of the meat.  With a meat pounder, pound the meat until it's very thin (about 1/8" thick)

Gently remove the top wax sheet and set meat aside 

until they're all done

Heat about 1/2 - 3/4 cup oil until hot

In the meantime, prepare the flour, eggs and bread crumbs.  Place them each in their own container.  I find that pie plates are a perfect size and height for dredging.  Dredge each slice one at a time into the flour, egg, bread crumbs and

then carefully add to hot oil.  Fry both sides for about 5 minutes.

Place the cooked pork on a platter with paper towels to drain excess oil

Once all the frying is done, place the platter of Schnitzel in a warm oven (about 175 degrees F).  Reserve the drippings for later.

SPAETZLE (German Noodles)

2 1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

Mix flour and salt, add eggs and milk.  I made a mistake by trying to use this handheld mixer.  It didn't work as the mixture was too tough for it.  I used my faithful rubber spatula instead and it worked a whole lot better.

Stir until smooth.  This can be a little tough and difficult to stir because it's so thick and pasty but that's okay.  It's supposed to be like that.

This folks, is an authentic, Spaetzle maker.  I've had it for over 20 years.  We bought it while living in Germany when my husband was stationed there.  Nifty gadget, wouldn't you say??

It fit's perfectly on my pot.  It's like they were made for each other :)  If you don't have a Spaetzle maker, I'm told you can use a colander along with a rubber spatula (google it and you'll find an array of updated makers)

Over boiling water, squeeze mixture through Spaetzle maker

Carefully hold red handle with one hand and with the other hand hold onto the cupbox that holds the mixture and slide back and forth.  Mixture will squeeze through the holes and fall into the boiling water.  (My one hand wasn't holding onto the handle only because I was taking the picture).

Allow noodles to boil for 2 1/2 minutes until they float to the top

With a large slotted spoon,  scoop out the noodles that have floated to the top.  Shake of excess water and place in a large bowl.

SPAEZTLE SAUCE

16 oz. Sour cream

2-3 tsp onion powder

Drippings from the cooked Schnitzel

Drain all but about a 1/4 cup of the drippings.  Heat to med-low and pour in the whole container of sour cream, add the onion powder.  Stir and warm thoroughly.  Salt to taste.

Serve the sauce over the Schnitzel and Spaetzle.  Ist gut!

We moved into our new home around eight months ago and I think because of the move, I lost my original  Schnitzel and Spaetzle recipe.  My good friend Daphnee originally gave it to me when we were "military wives" back in Germany and I kept it all these years until now.  I was able to email Daphnee to ask her for the recipe and as always, she came through in no time.  The only thing she didn't send was the Spaetzle sauce so I had to 2nd guess the ingredients.  I remember the sour cream and onion powder but I feel like there's one more ingredient missing.  I wanna say it's worchestershire sauce but I'm not positive.  So I concocted what I think was the sauce and it came pretty close to it, it's still bugging me though that something's not righ I just can't seem to pinpoint it.  I hope I do find my original recipe, I'm so sad without it.

Anyway, I ended up making a recipe and half of the Spaetzle because I was feeding six people including two meat and potatoes men.  As you can see, I didn't use any lemons because I didn't have any.  I also didn't have bread crumbs so I ended up using "shake and bake".  Yea, not very authentic but oh well.  The family still loved it and ......it's all gone.

I rarely ever make this recipe in the summer time only because you really put in a good workout when making the Spaetzle.  But we were all in the mood for it and the workout was well worth it :)

This recipe is shared with:

Monster Club

by Paula Deen

(printable recipe)

3 boneless chicken breasts

1 8oz. bottle Italian dressing

3 sprigs fresh rosemary

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tbsp. white vinegar

1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme

1 tsp. lemon zest

16 slices white bread

12 slices bacon

8 slices tomato

1 pkg. deli ham

6 slices muenster cheese

6 sheets of foil (enough for each sandwich)

First pound the chicken breast to make it evenly flat and then cut each chicken breast into equal serving portions.

In a large re-sealable plastic bag, combine the chicken, salad dressing,

and rosemary sprigs.  Seal the bag and marinate in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.  Spray a grill rack with nonstick, nonflammable cooking spray.  Preheat the grill to medium-high heat.

In a medium size bowl, combine mayonnaise, white vinegar, thyme and lemon zest;

Mix well, cover and refrigerate.

Drain the chicken, discarding marinade.  Grill the chicken for 5 minutes per side, or until done.

Evenly spread the mayonnaise mixture on 1 side of all the bread slices.

Lay each sandwich on a foil sheet as you start to put the sandwich together.  Top 6 bread slices with 2 slices tomato.  1 grilled chicken breast piece.  2 slices back and another bread slice.  2 slices ham.  and 2 cheese slice.  Top the sandwiches with the remaining bread slices, mayonnaise mixture side down.  This picture here is the Monster Club, it has the added slice in the middle, it the sandwich for the men in the family, including our son.

This one is a bit smaller (for us ladies) because it doesn't have the middle slice of bread.  So, I'll name it, the Mini-Monster Club  :)

Wrap each sandwich in the foil sheet sprayed with nonstick, (ooopsey, totally forgot this step) nonflammable cooking spray.  Place the sandwich on the grill rack.  Top each sandwich with a brick (or a heavy iron skillet like I did), and grill for 6 minutes per side or until toasted.

Unwrap sandwiches and serve immediately.

Oh mercy!  This was the most delicious, warm sandwich I've had in a long, long time.  I was very leary of the mayonnaise because I'm not a mayo person, I rarely, ever eat it.  I didn't even test taste it as I made it, I just never liked the taste of it.  Well.......I've been converted!!!....... but only with this recipe.  I guess it was all the flavors joined together that gave it a wonderful, delicious, savory flavor.  It wasn't overwhelming but just the perfect compliment for this club sandwich.  Please note, the only thyme I had was Lemon Thyme, so I'm sure that helped the taste along with the lemon zest, white vinegar and the mayo.  I'm certain this mayo spread will taste good on any other kind of sandwich, so it will definitely be a keeper in my books.  As you can see, I made a Monster Club for the men in the family and a Mini- Monster Club for us ladies.  This sandwich definitely lives up to it's name.  I was kinda shocked that my mother-in-law finished hers along with some other side food items.  I was plenty satisfied with mine too and hubby loved his very much, same with my son.  The only complaint hubby and I had was that the bread could have been toasted some more, possibly a little thicker.  The bread slices were kinda thin from the start but that's the way it was bought.  My suggestion would be to cut the slices at least 3/4 - 1 inch thick.  Hubby also suggested that the bread be toasted in the toaster first and I really wished I had thought of that ahead of time.  All in all, this is a very, very good sandwich, very satisfying and will be a hit with the men in the family.  I also have leftovers so I don't need to cook dinner tonight, yea, my kind of recipe!

I'm sharing this recipe with:

Coca-Cola Cake

(printable recipe)
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups small marshmallows
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 tbsps. cocoa
1 cup Coca-Cola
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, sift sugar and flour.  Add marshmallows.  In a saucepan, mix butter, oil, cocoa and Coca-Cola.  Bring to a boil,

then pour over dry ingredients; blend well.

Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk just before adding to batter along with eggs and vanilla extract, mixing well.

Pour into a well-greased 13x9-inch pan (or two 8 inch pans) and bake 35 to 45 minutes.

FROSTING

1/2 cup butter

3 tablespoons cocoa

6 tablespoons Coca-Cola

1 16 oz. box confectioners sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Combine butter, cocoa and Coca-Cola in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil and pour over confectioners' sugar, blending well.  Add vanilla extract and pecans. 

Remove cake from oven and frost immediately.

A favorite aunt of ours (kudos to Aunt Cathy) is famous in the family for making Coca-Cola Cake.  She shared the recipe with us many years ago but can't remember what I did with it.  Elise was in the store the other day and found the Coca-Cola cookbook.  Sure enough it had the recipe for the Coca-Cola Cake.  We don't know if it's the same one as Aunt Cathy's, but if it is, we sure know why it was a popular recipe.  This cake was full of chocolatey goodness, very moist and the frosting reminded me of old fashioned butter chocolate frosting.  Definitely a treat for us and can't wait until we have it again. *hint, hint* Elise!!! ;)

Sharing this recipe with:
Joy of Desserts, Vintage Recipe Thursday Linky Party

Ricotta Vanilla Bread Pudding

by Andrew Schloss, Art of the Slow Cooker
(printable recipe)

2 tbsps. unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 raisin bread, challah, or other egg bread
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 cup whole milk
1 15 oz. container whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 cups of water

Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.

Coat 1 1/2  quart souffle' dish with half the butter.

Take the bread

and cut 4 thick slices

then cut into 1/2" cubes (ooopsey, I cut them into 1" cubes.....oh well).  Toss the bread and raisins (I omitted the raisins) together in the prepared dish.

The cup of milk is ready

to be poured into the bread.  Toss lightly until the bread is completely moistened, set aside for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, mix the ricotta cheese, sugar, eggs, sour cream, lemon zest and vanilla in a large bowl.  Those dark, black spots are the vanilla, see below for explanation.

I used a vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract.  Click here to see how I used a vanilla bean in another recipe.  If there's any reason to use a vanilla bean, it's when the word "vanilla" is in the title of the recipe, that's my reasoning.

Mix thoroughly.  See those specks??  It's the vanilla :)  At this point, this mixture smells heavenly!

Pour over the bread

and mix lightly.

 I put the dish into the oven on a pan when I realized that I almost forgot to add the rest of the butter.  So drizzle the remaining butter over the top and sprinkle with the cinnamon (I skipped the cinnamon because I wasn't in the mood for it).  Pour two cups of water into pan (keeps it moist while it's baking).  Cover the top with heavy duty aluminum foil and crimp the edges securely.  Place in oven and bake for 1 hour or until a tester inserted in the center comes out with just a few specks clinging to it.

Remove the pudding from the oven and cool for at least 20 minutes or to room temperature.  Meanwhile preheat the broiler.  Place the pudding under the broiler about 6 inches from the heat and broil until the top browns lightly, 4 to 5 minutes.

 Serve warm or at room temperature or better yet, the following day when it's chilled.

The author of this book and recipe considered this to be a "pillow soft cross between cheesecake and bread pudding, delicately scented with floral vanilla and as light as it is rich, it overwhelms the senses with each bite."  With a touch of lemon, I may consider this my cheesecake go to from now on.  Simple to bake too.

Hubby loves, LOVES bread pudding.   I found this recipe in Adam Schloss' cookbook, "The Art of the Slow Cooker".  As you can see I didn't use a slow cooker as I wanted to make hubby something that wouldn't take hours to cook.  I guessed on what temperature to bake this recipe and it turned out just right although hubby says, it could of been baked a little bit more because he likes it a little more drier.   I personally thought I had overcooked it but hubby still enjoyed it very much and loved it even more on the second day.  I made this dish over the weekend but since my computer was "ill" I wasn't able to do any blogging.  But now that it's back to health, I'm now able to post this lovely, delicious recipe.

Cajun Chicken Revisted

(printable recipe)

I'm tired....

It's late.....

My PC is kapoot.....

I've been working with my daughter's iMac all.....ALL day, just to be able to get this post and pics up.

I'm frustrated......

So I took a break to make this dish so that I can feed my family plus have some leftovers to take to work this week.  This is one of those recipes that just gets better and better day to day, so I'm looking forward to having it for a couple of days :)

I miss my PC but it should be up and working pretty soon.  I've got so much to blog about.

Have a great week!!

P.S.  I forgot to mention earlier that the reason I am re-posting this recipe is because it's become a favorite to many a co-worker, their families as well as some of the football student-athletes here at my office.  Maybe it'll become a favorite of yours too.  Thanks again to Pioneer Woman who shared this on her blog.