From Wienerschnitzel to Parmigiana!
Oct. 21st, 2023 03:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerA few weeks ago I bought a Wienerschnitzel kit from Costco. I made half of the meat in the kit following the recipe on the box.
The result was pleasingly similar, visually, to the picture on the box. I note that because that's not always the case with boxed meals. See this chicken parmigiana from Trader Joe's as an example. The schnitzel tasted okay... but merely okay. The meat was tough and bland— a problem I've found, BTW, with all sous vide meats, including (and especially) those cooked by friends who've sworn up and down while inviting me to taste their cooking that it's the most tender, flavorable meat they've ever had and is comparable to a high end steakhouse. High end steakhouse? I'd send it back at a Denny's!
Like I said, it was kind of bland. So I got the idea to try preparing it differently when I cooked the other half. Here I made a jump between cuisines and geographies. Let's switch from doing it à la Vienna to Parma. Pork cutlet parmigiana!
I reheated, breaded, and sautéed the meat the same as when I made it as schnitzel. I did sauté it at a lower temperature, though, to avoid charring the breaded coating. Then I put it in glass baking dish with marinara sauce and a covering of shredded mozzarella cheese and placed it under the broiler until the cheese melted and became just slightly crispy. On the side (not included in the meal kit) I made spätzle— I kept that part of the meal Germanic 😅— creamed spinach, and garlic bread.
BTW, my recipe for creamed spinach is different from most. Instead of making basically a béchamel sauce with milk, butter, and flour to mix in with the spinach I simply use a few tablespoons of butter and a few ounces of cheese. For seasoning I use a pinch of nutmeg— but literally just a pinch, as even 1/2 tsp. of nutmeg can overpower a dish— and salt to taste. I wish I could claim credit for this recipe but I found it on the label of a can of spinach years ago. I've been enjoying it ever since.
The result was pleasingly similar, visually, to the picture on the box. I note that because that's not always the case with boxed meals. See this chicken parmigiana from Trader Joe's as an example. The schnitzel tasted okay... but merely okay. The meat was tough and bland— a problem I've found, BTW, with all sous vide meats, including (and especially) those cooked by friends who've sworn up and down while inviting me to taste their cooking that it's the most tender, flavorable meat they've ever had and is comparable to a high end steakhouse. High end steakhouse? I'd send it back at a Denny's!
Like I said, it was kind of bland. So I got the idea to try preparing it differently when I cooked the other half. Here I made a jump between cuisines and geographies. Let's switch from doing it à la Vienna to Parma. Pork cutlet parmigiana!
I reheated, breaded, and sautéed the meat the same as when I made it as schnitzel. I did sauté it at a lower temperature, though, to avoid charring the breaded coating. Then I put it in glass baking dish with marinara sauce and a covering of shredded mozzarella cheese and placed it under the broiler until the cheese melted and became just slightly crispy. On the side (not included in the meal kit) I made spätzle— I kept that part of the meal Germanic 😅— creamed spinach, and garlic bread.
BTW, my recipe for creamed spinach is different from most. Instead of making basically a béchamel sauce with milk, butter, and flour to mix in with the spinach I simply use a few tablespoons of butter and a few ounces of cheese. For seasoning I use a pinch of nutmeg— but literally just a pinch, as even 1/2 tsp. of nutmeg can overpower a dish— and salt to taste. I wish I could claim credit for this recipe but I found it on the label of a can of spinach years ago. I've been enjoying it ever since.
