Holsteiner Schnitzel And Spaetzle – A Delicious Meal

When I cut up a whole pork loin for the freezer recently, I went ahead and got some of it ready to make schnitzel by pounding it thin with the Jaccard.  We like it bare or topped with various sauces so I did a web search for possible sauces and I found this recipe from “German Culture” that absolutely had to be tried.  The lemon, butter, caper sauce is a big favorite of ours and then it is topped with a fried egg - talk about a no brainer recipe for me.  Here is the shot of mine then theirs.

This also came from their site – “There is nothing quite like the Holsteiner Schnitzel recipe. It’s a 19th century variation on the classic Wiener schnitzel, created for Herr Holstein (Baron Holstein actually), who apparently liked eggs and anchovies on his schnitzel.”

Bev is not a big anchovy fan but rather than completely omit them, I added a little anchovy paste to the sauce, changed some of the amounts, and cooked the eggs in a different pan – the original recipe can be found by clicking on the above link.

Holsteiner Schnitzel – Adapted from German Culture

The Ingredients:

4 pork loin chops, ½” thick

½ cup flour

1 cup fresh bread crumbs (I used store bought)

½ cup milk

4 large eggs

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

4 tbsp. clarified butter

10 tbsp. unsalted butter

¾“ long squeeze of anchovy paste

2 tbsp. finely chopped parsley

2 tbsp. finely chopped capers

juice of 2 lemon, about 4 tbsp.

The Directions:

1. Slice the pork loin into ½’’ thick chops and pound with the Jaccard into ¼“ thick cutlets.

2. Place flour and crumbs in separate dishes, and whisk milk and 2 eggs in a third dish.

3. Season cutlets with salt and pepper.

4. Coat cutlets in flour, then egg mixture, then dredge in crumbs.

5. Heat 2 tbsp. clarified butter in a 12″ skillet over medium-high heat.

6.Add the cutlets and cook, turning, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate; repeat with 2 tbsp. butter and remaining cutlets if they can't be cooked together.

7. Two a second skillet, add 2 tbsp. butter and cook the eggs to desired doneness when the sauce is about ready.

8. To the meat skillet, add remaining 8 tbsp. butter; cook, swirling, until brown and nutty, about 30 seconds. 

9. Stir in parsley, capers, and juice; pour over cutlets and top with a fried egg or the egg can be added before the sauce if desired.

We sided it with spaetzle using the recipe for Easy German Spaetzle from "Plated Cravings."

Easy German Spaetzle

The Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp salt

8 large eggs

3/4 cup milk

The Instructions:

1. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, eggs, milk, and salt. Stir until the batter is well combined and develops bubbles. You can also use a mixer. The batter should neither be too thin nor too thick or it will be difficult to make the spaetzle with your spaetzle maker. Let the batter sit for 5-10 min.

2. Put a colander into a bowl to drain the Spaetzle once cooked and bring a large pot of water over high heat to a boil, add about 1 Tbsp of salt to the water, and reduce temperature to a simmer.

3. Press batter through a spaetzle maker, a large holed sieve or colander into the simmering water.  We first tried a cheese grater then switched to a colander with pretty big holes.

4. Work in batches, after using about 1/3 of the batter stop adding new spaetzle and let them cook for about 2-3 minutes, or until they float to the top. Stir occasionally. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the spaetzle to the colander so that excess water can drip off.

5. Serve the spaetzle immediately or saute them in butter to crisp them up a little. If you don't serve or saute them right away, add 1 or 2 Tbsp of butter to the hot spaetzle to prevent them from sticking together.

We served the schnitzel and spaetzle both topped with the sauce.

The Verdict:

The schnitzel with the sauce and fried egg was outstanding and I think I will also use anchovy filets on mine next time to see the difference.  Although it tasted very good, our spaetzle making process left a lot to be desired but it got easier after we thinned the batter for how we were making it.  And for our meal, half a recipe would have been more than enough but it will make good leftovers.  I will definitely make both the schnitzel and the spaetzle again and since everyone loved it, I’ve ordered a spaetzle maker for the future.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

08/05/22 meal date