Schweineschnitzel with Caraway Sauce on Brown Rice and Asparagus with Brown Butter and Poppy Seeds

I have recently come to the conclusion that if you can lay out the money and have the freezer space, buying large cuts of meat is the way to go.  Not crazy large like a whole cow or anything.  But, for example, whenever I see a sale on pork tenderloin, I buy as many as I can fit in the freezer.

First, I will carefully portion 1 or 2 of the tenderloins into 1-oz. pieces.  Yes, you heard me:  One-Ounce Pieces.  These are eventually going to be schnitzels, and a 1-oz. schnitzel is all you need when combined with a veg and a sauce (and maybe a starch).  Don’t worry, I am not going all meatless on you.  But a pounded 1-oz. piece of pork tenderloin breaded and sautéed is, seriously, a perfect serving.  And, if you’ve done this little bit of prep right when you get home from the store... dinner’s a cinch. 

So, I simply pounded 2 slices as thinly as I could without tearing the meat, salted, peppered, and floured them, dipped them in egg whites, and then coated them in panko.  I sautéed them in EVOO until done (remember, it’s not 1956... pork does not have to be cooked until it resembles grey leather!).

The incredibly tasty sauce could hardly be simpler:  I sautéed some finely minced shallot in butter, added caraway seed and a splash of white wine, and let that simmer until most of the wine was gone.  I then turned the heat off and stirred in sour cream (take a bit of care... it doesn’t like to be boiled!).

I served these schnitzels with asparagus sautéed with brown butter and poppy seeds.  I’ve lately become a bit obsessed with these dark grey/blue seeds and the deep, almost mysterious crunch they bring to vegetables.

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