Recipes

Pork Schnitzel

By Joe Muench
 

Joe Muench started his cooking career making pizzas at Marty’s while still in high school and continued to do it on weekends when he was in college at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He also developed a routine, with his brother, of watching PBS cooking shows, when the featured chefs were people like Martin Yan of “Yan Can Cook,” Jacques Pepin and the late, great Julia Child. His future was beginning to take shape, whether he knew it or not. Now, pork schnitzel – and all of its gorgeous accompaniments – is close to his heart. Again, his German heritage and his family’s traditions.  “The schnitzel is very much what I’d come home to. You’d have spaetzles, you’d have red cabbage … and adding the fried eggs and making this kind of grand presentation. Everything was on platters and plates and well-presented.” You can visualize the scene unfolding – the family crowding around the room, piling their plates with crispy breaded, fried pork and haystacks of sweet-sour cabbage and chewy spaetzle dumplings, christening it all with thick bratensauce.

 

Fast forward to now, if his kids are coming over for dinner and any kind of breaded meat is on the menu, great. But pan-fried dumplings? Fantastic. “If I say I’m making spaetzles, they’re coming over,” he says, laughing. Eating wiener schnitzel by itself isn’t wrong, but it’s much better with its friends. Muench not only shares his recipe for pork schnitzel (the a la Holstein variation too) but also gives us the whole nine yards – spaetzle, red cabbage and gravy.

Ingredients

Serves 4 to 5

Pork Schnitzel:

1.5-pound piece of pork loin

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons Kosher salt

1 teaspoon white pepper

4 eggs

1 cup milk

2-3 cups breadcrumbs

Garlic powder, to taste

Kosher salt, to taste

Black pepper, ground, to taste

Canola oil (as needed to coat sauté pan)

 

German Brown Gravy (Bratensauce):

2 tablespoons butter

2 shallots, chopped

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 bay leaves

2 teaspoons black peppercorns

2 sprigs of thyme

1 cup red wine

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1-quart beef stock

Kosher salt, to taste

Black pepper, freshly ground, to taste

 

Spaetzle:

1 pound all-purpose flour

8 whole eggs

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon white pepper, ground

2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup water

Enough water to fill a large pot three-quarters full

1 tablespoon salt

 

For service:

3 tablespoons butter

2-3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Kosher salt, to taste

 

Sunny-Side Up Eggs (Optional for a Schnitzel a la Holstein):

2-3 tablespoons butter, clarified

4-6 eggs

Kosher salt, to taste

Black pepper, freshly ground, to taste

Instructions

Pork Schnitzel:

Slice the pork loin into half-inch pieces, about 6-7 slices. Spread out on a cutting board and cover with plastic wrap. Using a meat tenderizer or heavy sauté pan, pound the cutlets until they are less than a quarter-inch thick. Season both sides with the salt and pepper and allow to rest for 20-30 minutes.

 

Set up a three-part breading station. Mix the flour with the salt and pepper and place into a shallow baking pan. Mix the eggs with the milk and whisk until the eggs are completely incorporated. Place the egg wash into another shallow baking pan. Add the breadcrumbs into a third shallow baking pan. Take the culets of pork and, one at a time, dip them into the flour, shaking off the extra flour. Dip each of them into the egg wash and then into the breadcrumbs to coat each side. Place the breaded cutlets on a clean sheet pan or large platter.

 

Put enough canola oil in the bottom of a heavy sauté pan to coat the bottom. Place the pan over medium-high heat and allow the oil to get hot, around 350 degrees. Add two to three pieces of pork into the pan and brown on the first side for about three to four minutes. Turn the cutlets over and brown the other side for another three to four minutes. Add more oil if necessary. Remove and place on a paper towel-lined plate and keep warm. Finish the process with the rest of the pork cutlets.

 

German Brown Gravy (Bratensauce):

In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add in the shallots and cook to soften. Add in the flour, bay leaves and peppercorns and cook for two to three minutes, stirring the whole time. Stir in the wine and vinegar and bring to a boil. Add in the mustard and tomato paste, stirring to incorporate. Add in the beef stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20-30 minutes over low heat until the sauce is thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Strain the sauce through a sieve and season with the salt and pepper to taste. Note: This can be made days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

 

Spaetzle:

In a mixing bowl, combine and mix the ingredients into a smooth dough and continue to mix until the dough is stretchy. The dough should be smooth, elastic and somewhat loose so it can be pressed through the spaetzle maker. Allow dough to rest for five minutes.

 

Add enough water to a large pot so that it’s three-quarters full. Add in the salt. Bring the water to a boil. Place a spaetzle maker or a slotted pan over the pot and add the batter to the maker and pan. Using a rubber scraper, press the dough through the holes, allowing droplets of dough to hit the water. Do this until all of the dough is in the water. Stir the water to loosen the droplets of dough. Bring to a simmer and cook for three to four minutes. Drain in a colander and run cold water over the cooked dumplings to cool. Store in the refrigerator or cook for service.

 

Serving:

In a heavy sauté pan, melt the butter and allow it to begin to bubble. Add in the spaetzle and sauté until they begin to brown. Season with salt and parsley. Serve.

 

Sunny-Side Up Eggs (Optional for a Schnitzel a la Holstein):

Place a nonstick pan over medium-high heat and allow it to get hot. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan and coat the bottom. Depending on the size of the pan, add one or two eggs. Allow the whites to set up before moving the pan. Once the whites are set, jiggle the pan to release the eggs from the bottom. Make sure the pan heat is controlled so the eggs don’t brown. Once the whites are completely set, slide the eggs onto a sheet pan and keep them warm. Repeat with the remaining eggs.

 

Before serving, season the eggs with salt and pepper to your liking. The eggs can be reheated in a warm oven before serving.

Bio

Armed with a culinary arts degree from Milwaukee Area Technical College, Tosa native Joe Muench began his career as sous chef at the late fine dining institution Grenadier’s. Before becoming a restaurateur, Muench was the executive chef at, among other notable restaurants, Eddie Martini’s Steakhouse. He and business partner Dan Sidner formed the restaurant group Black Shoe Hospitality, which operates Maxie’s, Blue’s Egg, Story Hill BKC and Buttermint Finer Dining and Cocktails. In addition to the restaurants, Muench oversees Black Shoe Bakery, the mobile Black Shoe food truck and Black Shoe Catering. In 2022 and 2023, Black Shoe Hospitality was nominated for Best Hospitality Group by the James Beard Foundation. Anchored by Muench, Sidner and partners Jason and Amy Kerstein, Black Shoe Hospitality appreciates the communities they serve and guests they have come to know and feed.

Joe Muench

Black Shoe Hospitality

Joe Muench

Black Shoe Hospitality

About Black Shoe Hospitality
 

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