Putting On The Schnitz

Before going to culinary school, I knew I enjoyed cooking but I really didn't know much about different techniques. However, the three stage breading station was something I pretty much grew up on. I've never really thought about it until recently. It turns out that the breading station is used throughout most of the world. It seems to be just as common as making a sandwich.

The breading station is a three step process where you dredge whatever it is in seasoned flour, then covered with plain egg wash and then coated with seasoned breadcrumbs. A classic technique that has been used for a very long time.

The recipe today is a simple Schnitzel with a slight variation. But, even here in Canada, I'm not always sure what to call it. I suppose some days it's a scallopine or even a cotoletta alla milanese. But here we get into little details that even I find very confusing. Schnitzels and scallopines are usually made with an escalope rather than cotoletta alla milanese which uses a cutlet. What's the difference between an escalope and a cutlet you ask? Ummm, glad you asked. Let me pull out my old textbook and let me see. Aha! Found it. A cutlet is a slice of meat that usually comes from either the leg or the rib and is usually very thin. An escalope is boneless slice of meat, often from a loin, and is pounded out to make it thin. Got it? I'm sure many of you reading this will forget everything I've written anyways. Not exactly life changing material. Nevertheless, you can now strike up a conversation with your favourite butcher. I find it very awkward talking to butchers. Seems like I'm always trying to break the ice with them. But it's very hard. They can be quite intense. Maybe it's just me but when a gentleman who maintains eye contact while covered in blood, holding a cleaver, surrounded by dead animals and talking about municipal politics (and is hopefully not missing any teeth), I am slightly intimidated.

Anyways, no more silliness. Here's a recipe! You read it. You make it. You serve it. You eat it.

Pork Schnitzel

8 Thin Pork Cutlets
150 g Flour (about 1.5 Cups)
4 Eggs, whipped
150 g Seasoned Bread Crumbs (about 1.5 cups)
2 Lemons, zested then cut into wedges for garnish
100 g Cheddar Cheese, grated (about three quarters of a cup)
Drizzle of Honey Dijon
Salt and Black Pepper to Taste
Canola Oil for searing

In a bowl, combine bread crumbs with zest and grated cheese.

Dredge cutlets in seasoned flour. Drizzle mustard and spread evenly. Place in egg wash and then in bread crumbs. Repeat with remaining cutlets.

In a large skillet, pour generous amounts of oil and heat well. Sear both sides until brown, If not quite cooked, place in oven at 350 until cooked; about 5 minutes.

Serve with zested lemon wedges and Not Just Any A Humble Chef's Farinaceous Salad Made In the Style of the Germans

Serves 6.

Variation: you know, virtually every country in the world has a variation on this recipe. Ask your mom or grandma and I'm sure they can give a variation from their own country.

A Humble Chef's tip: these can be made in advance and refrigerated. However, do not allow them to touch other too much or they'll stick to each other. Then you'll have to peel one off the other.

Copy and Pasty

I must start this new post by offering apologies to all readers of my blog for my long hiatus. Yeah, sorry about that. As my old Italian neighbour used to say, "Whatta goin to do?"

I have been very busy with cooking classes these passed few months and I would like to say thank you to all those who come to my classes and to the co-ordinators who book them. Very swell of you.

For me, what is more rewarding than anything else is when someone tells me about their successful attempts to use my recipes. Shucks. Truthfully, boosts to my fragile ego and an occasional pat on the back are always welcome in my books. Having said that, this is a recipe I recently did and even I was surprised on the positive outcome.

I've recently renewed my interest in pasty and it's origins. Not to be confused with pastry, pasty is when you take a pastry and fold over a filling and is then crimped. Very similar to empanadas. However, in the case of the empanada, the filling is usually cooked in advance. Pasties are often filled with root vegetables, onions, beef, whatever and then baked. I suppose if you put tomato sauce, mozzarella and maybe some pepperoni, you could pretty much call that pasty a calzone. Confusing. Yes the pastry is a little different, but essentially the same concept.

Not far from the pasty, is pot pie. However, many of you already know this, but the pot pie filling is cooked in advance and covered with pastry. There are different types of pastry you could use for pot pie (flaky, puff, choux, phyllo) but I like shortcrust. If you can remember 1:2 (1 part fat to 2 parts flour) you'll be fine. Not to be confused with my 1:1:4 recipe. 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of milk and 4 eggs. I wonder, can anyone guess what this ratio might be?

And to keep life easy, make the stew and put the pastry on top in the pot. I mean, if you want to make a pastry base and make an actual pie, be my guest. But I like to keep it simple silly.

Before I move on, I recently had a, um, discussion about the origin of the term Mulligatany. It means "Pepper Water" in Tamil. Millagu for Pepper and Thanni for water. It doesn't refer to some Irish town where it came from like someone in one of my classes argued. Sigh.

Christmas Leftover Mulligatawny Pot Pie

For the Pastry:

240 g A. P. Flour (2 ¼ Cups)
170 g Butter (¼ lb.)
125 ml Cold Water (½ Cup)
Pinch of Salt

For everything else:
170 g butter (¼ lb.)
100 g A.P. Flour (1 Cup)
1 Small Red Onion, finely diced
1/2 Celery Stalk, diced
1 Small Carrot, diced
1 Red Pepper, diced
1 Green Pepper, diced
1 Green or Yellow Zucchini, diced
3 Garlic Cloves, crushed
1 Whole Breast of Turkey or whatever leftovers you have
2 Bosc Pears, grated
2 Large Russet Potatoes, diced
3 l Chicken or Turkey Stock
1 Can of Cranberry Sauce
Drizzle of Oil
Pinches, of Tumeric, Cumin, Mild Curry Powder, Cayenne, Paprika, Thyme
2 Bay Leaves
2 Eggs, whipped
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Preheat oven to 400.

To make the pastry, combine the flour, salt and butter and crumble with your hands; the mixture should look dry. Add one third of the water and gently mix in. Add next third of water and continue. Add the remaining water and massage in; it should be just damp enough to mass together. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up 24 hours.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough into circle big enough to cover the top of your pot. Maybe make the crust about ¼ inch thick.

In a soup pot, heat oil on med-high heat. Add onion, celery and carrot and cook for one minute.Add blend of spices. Add peppers and garlic and cook for another. Add pears, zucchini and potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Add flour and cook for 5 minutes.

Whisk in chicken stock until blended. Add turkey and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and let simmer. Adjust to seasonings.

Brush the rim of the pot with cold water. Carefully lay the pastry round over the top and crimp the edges to seal. Brush the pastry with some of the egg mixture and bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. About 5 – 10 minutes resting time.

Serves 8 – 10.

A Humble Chef's tip: where to begin? How about, this? Be sure the chicken stock is cold when adding to the aromatic roux. Rememeber, cold liquids to a hot roux.

Variations: simple. Turkey Mulligatawny Empanadas.

Budding Tastes

Cold soups seem kind of odd, don't they? To many people, cold soup is an oxymoron. But that really isn't true is it? Yeah sure you can call many fruit soups a smoothie. Cantaloupe, Honeydew and even Cucumber Soup is often uncooked and pureed and served chilled. Throw in some flavours and, well, that's it. But there are others that are slightly more complex. Take Vichyssoise for example. If anybody can provide for me a recipe for a no-cook Vichyssoise, please feel free and send it off and I'll give it a shot and I'll post it on the blog.

I have made this recipe many times and often with different types of apples. It is striking how much the soup changes every time in both taste and appearance. I first tried with Granny Smiths and it was too tart. Pink Lady wasn't bad but had an odd colour of pinkish brown. It didn't look right. Empires and Macintosh worked well in each occasion and in my mind had the best and so the last time I experimented I used both.

If you are a fan of cold soups, and I know that many of you are not, remember that it is a great way to experiment on any flavour combination. Having said that, remember that taste buds are more sensitive to salt when the soup (or anything for that matter) is hot. Cold food and drinks tones down the palate. So, what does that mean? If you are preparing any cold soup that is first cooked then chilled, season to taste after chilling so you know exactly how it tastes for presentation.

I'm going to give my Humble Chef's tip a little early: if you are being forced to eat something somewhat unpleasant, but is probably very healthy for you, drink a glass of ice water right before consuming. Yes, it really does dull the taste buds for a short amount of time.

I am being very restraint in not providing a sarcastic remark regarding the many unpleasant meals I have eaten over the years. Truth is, I was probably the cook who made most of them.

Cold Apple Curry Soup

Dab of Butter
1 Cooking Onion, roughly chopped
2 Cloves of Garlic
8 Empire Apples, quartered and cored, skin on
12 MacIntosh Apples, quartered and cored, skin on
250 ml White Wine
1 L Vegetable Stock
.5 L Apple Cider
Tbs. Tumeric
Tsp. Dried Ginger
Tsp. Cumin
Tsp. Coriander Seed
Tsp. Clove
Tsp. Cinnamon
Tsp. Cayenne
100 g Old Cheddar, grated, for garnish
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a tall stock pot, melt butter and cook onions for 1 minute. Add all spices and garlic and stir frequently. Cook for 4 - 5 minutes or until spices are sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add apples and cook for 2 minutes. Add wine and resuce by half. Add stock and bring to a boil and let simmer for 8 - 10 minutes. Puree and remove from heat. Add cider and let cool rapidly in an ice bath. Adjust to taste.

Garnish with cheddar and something green. Whatever.

Serves 6 - 8.

Variation: this recipe works with Anjou Pears. Make sure the pears (even the apples for that matter) are very ripe.

Excuse Me, I Need To Make This Cauliflower

Growing up I never liked cauliflower. Actually, truth is, I never really liked vegetables and cauliflower simply just happens to be one.

As with many other vegetables, after learning how to cook them and use them in soups, stews or whatever, I have learned to love this floral vegetable for a number of reasons. Much like broccoli and asparagus, it has a number of ways it likes to be cooked: steamed, blanched, sauteed or roasted. It is usually inexpensive and keeps for a decent amount of time in your crisper. And it is very low in fat and high in fiber and vitamin C. It can be eaten raw but ugh. Not for me.

Now onto Bechamel. All you need to know is that Bechamel is essentially a milk sauce thickened with a roux and flavoured with cloves, onion and garlic.If you're interested, it is also one of the five mother sauces and is also known as White Sauce. Not too many people make this anymore. Reason being is that 35% cream is easier to buy, easier use and it tastes better. I've never ended up with lumps of roux in my 35% cream before. However, Bechamel has two major advantages for me: it is cost effective and it has more of a binding ability than that of 35% cream. Sometimes I use 35% and sometimes I use Bechy. It depends on what you're doing really.

Before I bore everyone with sauce cookery 101, I will mention that this recipe is a derivative of Bechamel called Mornay. Without getting into too much detail, a derivative is simply one of the mother sauces with an added ingredient to make something new. In our case, we are using Emmenthal Cheese to make our creamy sauce.

One last thing. As with many French Classical sauces, the names of the sauces are usually names after some dude. If you ever have to study sauce cookery, then ugh. It sucks. All these names of things that offer no hint or clue to what makes this sauce unique. I wonder, if cooks were still naming sauces after people today, who would have this honour bestowed upon them? Actors? Athletes? Journalists? Politicians? Or how about the Chefs who created them? Naw. No way. If there is one thing that we chefs aren't, that would be vain. Right?


Roasted Cauliflower with Mornay

2 Heads of Cauliflower, cut into florets (if you like the wacky coloured ones, go ahead, though I've learned the orange varietal comes from Ontario!)
1 L of 2% Milk
100 g Butter
100 g All Purpose (A.P.) Flour
1 Small Cooking Onion, rough dice
2 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
2 Cloves (no, not a typo. The spice.)
350 g Emmenthal Cheese, grated
Ice for Ice Bath
Drizzle of Oil
Salt and Pepper, to taste

In a tall stock pot, bring salted water to a simmer. Blanch cauliflower until tender; approximately 4 minutes. Remove and place into ice bath to stop the cooking. Drain and pat dry. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a sauce pan, melt butter until frothy. Add onions, garlic and cloves and cook for 3 minutes. Add flour and stir frequently. Add one third of your milk and whisk vigorously until smooth. Add remaining milk and continue to whisk. Bring to a slight boil. Stir constantly. Once it heats to a scald, remove from heat and strain. Return to heat and whisk in cheese. Season to taste.

Toss cauliflower in a drizzle and lay onto a baking sheet. Roast in oven for 8-10 minutes or until a little golden. Remove and place in a bowl and cover with Mornay sauce.

Serves 8.

Variation: you can use this on broccoli or asparagus or even pasta.

A Humble Chef's tip: make sure you use cold milk when adding it to your aromatic roux.

A Derivative Post with a Derivative Recipe

Spring is nearly here and I have yet another recipe with my favourite vegetable: asparagus. However, in my first recipe, asparagus is used to make a puree soup. The next one we use it in a pasta. Here it is cooked and used in a salad. As many of you obviously know, asparagus is best in spring because only the young shoots are eaten. Extremely healthy with a high amount of fibre, calcium and every vitamin in the alphabet.

There are three basic styles of dressings used for salads: the first is the obvious one where fat is added to an acid and emulsified, creamy dressings such as ranch or mayonaisse and, finally, cooked dressings. Like Hollandaise. I have already talked about Hollandaise in a previous post. And since asparagus is so healthy, then you are required to use something fatty to go with it. Obviously.

Hollandaise has a classic method that can be a little tricky for the first time. However, if you are adventurous, there is an alternative method. Similar to Beurre Blanc, you whip your eggs over simmering water with a pinch of sugar. Once it triples in volume, then you monter au beurre (whisk in cubed butter) and return to heat if it gets a little too cool. With this method, your hollandaise is less likely to split.

This sauce is known as Maltaise; one of the many derivatives from Hollandaise. Thanks to my Professional Cooking textbook, I am able list off some the many derivatives. Bearnaise is with a tarragon reduction. Foyot is with a hint of demi-glace. Choron uses tomato paste. Paloise is similar to bearnaise but uses mint instead of tarragon. Very nice with Leg of Lamb. Suffice to say, there are too numerous to name. Especially since nobody is really going to make any of them. Obviously.


A Bloomin' Sauce with Bloody Oranges on a Hammy Sparrow-Grass Salad

30 Asparagus Spears
3 Belgian Endives (for garnish)
1 Yellow or Orange Pepper, julienne
6 oz. Prosciutto, thinly sliced and cut into strips
1 Box of Spinach
8 Egg Yolks
Splash of White Wine
200 g Clarified Butter, warm
2 Large Blood Oranges, juiced
Pinch of Cayenne
Pinch of Paprika
Ice for Ice Bath
Salt and Pepper to Taste

In a tall pot, bring salted water to a boil. Blanch asparagus until tender. Remove and shock in ice bath. Drain and pat dry. Using prosciutto, tie up asparagus into bundles of 5.

In a frying pan, heat juice of blood orange until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat.

In a steel bowl, combine eggs with wine. Over simmering water, whisk eggs until it triples in volume; about ten minutes. Remove from heat and slowly drizzle in clarified butter while whisking vigorously. When finished, add blood orange juice and cayenne. Reserve for later.

Arrange on plates, spinach, peppers, endives and asparagus bundles. Drizzle dressing on top, garnish with paprika and serve immediately.

Variation: instead of spinach, use whatever lettuce you like. With the exception of iceberg. But lollo rosso, frisee and mache. These all work well.

A Humble Chef's tip: to clarify your butter, melt butter, remove milk solid then place in your fridge for an hour. Take out, pierce a hole and drain excess water and heat up again.

Playing Ghosts and Gobblings

Do people eat turkey just after Christmas? It is now February and I wonder if people do.

Now I noticed recently at the general store something specific: whole turkey drops in price after Christmas and yet people don't seem to be buying them. Strange really. When you think about how often people eat chicken in a year and contrast that to turkey, you have to wonder what people have against this bird most fowl.

Well, yes, eating turkey makes you drowsy, but so does wine. And do we only drink wine twice a year? Not in this household. If I remember my nutrition classes well, turkey meat contains tryptophans. After eating it, the blood carries it to our digestive system and then to our brains which then gets changed to serotonin. I know this is sleepy material but certainly you must have wondered why we get so tired at Thanksgiving.

Turkey is available whole both fresh and frozen but at any time of year at major grocers; I often buy either the legs or the breasts rather than whole. Depends really on how much time you have to cook it and how many people you intend on feeding. If buying breasts, remember that they come in different sizes and usually feed 4 or 5 people. Unless you're suffering from insomnia. Then all you need to do is eat an extra portion of turkey, start reading my blog and then you'll be over yawnder.

Hazelnut Crusted Breast of Turkey

2 Turkey Breasts
4 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
1 Cooking Onion, roughly chunked
1 Carrot, roughly chunked
1 Celery Stalk, roughly chunked
Small Bunch of Sage, chiffonade
Pinch of Paprika and Allspice
300 g Hazelnuts, finely chopped
400 ml Dijon Mustard, grainy if available
200 ml Maple Syrup
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Drizzle of Oil for Searing

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine mustard, maple syrup and half the sage in a bowl and set aside.

Coat turkey breasts with touch of oil. Rub paprika, allspice and garlic on top. Let marinate for 10 minutes.

In a large frying pan, heat oil until very hot. Sear breasts on skin side only for 2-3 minutes.

On a roasting pan, lay out veggies evenly. Place seared turkey on top. Cook for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and coat with mustard mixture. Pat hazelnuts on top and cook for another 15 - 20 minutes or, using an instant read thermometer, until 155 - 160 degrees internal temperature.

Let rest for 10 minutes and slice.

Serves 8 - 10.

Variation: if you don't have hazelnuts, use either pecans or walnuts.

A Humble Chef's tip: serve with a sauce using the pan drippings and the Sour Dough Stuffing recipe from this previous post.

Underground Vegetable Resistance

Yes. Another soup. But where I live, it minus 20 degrees. And soup is what we're having.

It has taken a while but I've finally converted my mother-in-law to no longer be a parsnip hater. It wasn't easy but this recipe did the trick. She discovered that she liked parsnips.

Over the past few years, I have learned to value this lesser known root vegetable. It is far more versatile than people give this under-appreciated, underground veggie credit for. On top of this, parsnips are higher in minerals and vitamins than the famous cousin and bully, the carrot (which everybody eats). Parsnips have their own unique sweet taste and it is usually inexpensive. So why don't more people buy it? Carrots are to blame.

Parsnips apparently grow best in temperate regions because their sugar content increases after a little frost. Having said that, the taste of the parsnip, like the potato, is dramatically affected by the climate. So, don't buy them in the spring or summer when they're out of season.

Like the orange-coloured relative, parsnips can be cooked any number of ways: roasted, sauteed, deep-fried, boiled. It can be eaten raw but it is not entirely recommended. Unlike carrots which many people do eat raw. However, if you eat your carrots for the beta carotene, eating it raw is a waste of time.

Anyways, enough of that. All I'm trying to say is, parsnips taste good. And they're cheap. And they're healthy. And they're easy too cook. And anytime you see a carrot recipe, think about substituting it and see if it works. Which it won't all the time so you'll have to use your culinary judgment.

Parsnip and Ginger Soup

1 Large Cooking Onion, peeled and cut into chunks
2 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
Small Chunk of Fresh Ginger (how much is a small chunk? About a tablespoon size)
Pinch of Clove
8 - 10 Parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
Drizzle of Oil
Drizzle of Liquid Honey
2 L Vegetable Stock
250 ml Orange Juice
Salt and Pepper to Taste

In a soup pot, heat oil. Add onions and cook for 5 minutes. Add cloves and cloves of garlic (that's the spice and your two cloves of garlic, not a ton of garlic). Cook for 2 more minutes. Add parsnips and ginger and stir until parsnips are coated in fat. Add extra oil if necessary. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add vegetable stock and orange juice and bring to a boil. Liquify using an immersion blender. Season to taste with honey and salt and pepper.

Add desired garnish. Cream, thyme or even Candied Parsnips.

Serves 8.

A Humble Chef's tip: if the parsnips are really skinny, don't bother peeling them. Soak thoroughly and let air dry before using them.

Variation: this is already a variation on the classic Carrot Ginger Soup, which goes to show how easy it is to change it up.


This next recipe is very tricky. Be sure to measure accurately and follow the instructions carefully or the recipe won't work.

Candied Parsnips

Dab of Butter
Handful of Brown Sugar
Drizzle of Maple Syrup
Pinch of Salt
Splash of Rum
1 Large Parsnips, peeled and thinly sliced

Put everything in a pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook until parsnips are cooked. About 8 minutes.

Serve.

A Humble Chef's tip: don't overcook the parsnips.

Variation: change up the quantities of ingredients.