Pork Schnitzel with sauteed mushrooms and egg noodles

My husband and I recently celebrated our anniversary by going up to the quaint Bavarian-themed tourist town of Leavenworth, located in the Cascade mountains in Washington State.  Clearly, with the Alpine menu options that are prevalent, we had to do at least one “authentic German” meal.  So we had schnitzel, with red cabbage sauerkraut, and egg noodles with mushrooms. Now back in the day-to-day of normal life, I thought we would try to recreate that meal (all but the red cabbage sauerkraut which I didn't have...) to take a bit of Bavaria back home to us. 

As is the case with me, I often shoot from the hip with whatever ingredients I have available, but I did actually have a pretty good outcome, despite a few wobbles, which I’ll correct next time I make this.

Two notes to myself: Buy a meat-tenderizer mallet, and use less oil and slightly lower heat in the skillet.  Also, if you are able to get Country Pasta egg noodles, they’re really delicious, and made by a family whose daughter I went to high school with in rural Montana.  

INGREDIENTS:

4 boneless pork cutlets

3 tablespoons flour for dredging
1 egg whisked into a wide bowl or deep plate

1 1/2-2 cups sliced Baby Bella or crimini mushrooms
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp marjoram

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

 

 

Breading:
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp marjoram
1/2 cup bread crumbs

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Fill a pot with water, and bring to a boil.  Cook according to egg noodle-package directions (the brand I used requires 18-22 minutes of boil time).

Trim any excess fat off the pork, and then using a meat mallet (or in my case, since I didn’t have one, I used a larger cast iron skillet to hold my pork cutlet, and a slightly smaller cast iron skillet to pound the cutlet.

When you’ve gotten the meat down to a 1/3” thick, dredge it in flour, dip it in egg, and then pat bread crumb mixture on each side.
Meanwhile, heat a skillet with oil on medium heat, and fry each side of breaded pork about 3-4 minutes.  Mind that it doesn’t burn, and turn the heat down if necessary.  (Note that you could bake the pork in the oven, if you want to limit your fat intake, but it is really good fried in oil.)

Keep pork cutlets hot in a preheated oven at 350 while sautéing mushrooms over medium heat with a pat of butter.  Turn them frequently when they start to brown. Finish off with a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, and let it simmer a minute or two until thickened.  Serve it all up on a plate. 

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