Jägerschnitzel and Hasselback Potatoes

Folks-

I've been meaning to add this to my blog for a while. It's really one recipe and a couple of instructions.

So, what is Jägerschnitzel? Imagine country-fried pork chops smothered in mushroom gravy and you're pretty darn close. It's a German or Austrian dish that just happens to be freaking delicious. I don't remember where I first heard about it, but I found my base recipe at Quick German Recipes, and then modified it. The full recipe here is just for the Jäger Sosse or mushroom gravy, and the added instructions are for the schnitzel and Hasselback Potatoes.

You may notice there's no sausage in this recipe. If you're from the U.S., like me, that might be a surprise, but yeah, schnitzel is basically any kind of fellet breaded and fried. Der Wiener schnitzel is a hot dog chain in the U.S., and an actual Wiener schnitzel is a veal fillet that's been breaded and fried.

Yeah.

So, what are Hasselback Potatoes? They're fancy baked potatoes. Here's the method:

Take your clean potatoes and slice a flat spot on the bottom of each. One at a time place the potatoes between two chopsticks and using a sharp knife start at one end and make thin slices in each potato, about 2-4mm wide, across the potato. The chopsticks should prevent you from cutting all the way through. Fan your accordioned potato out and wash off the starch. Once all of the potatoes are cut up this way, cover them in olive oil or butter, getting it in between the slices. Bake at 400 degrees for about an hour. In the last 10 minutes of baking or so you can place cheese between the slices, or cover them in bread crumbs, or top with Parmesan cheese. Yum!

So start that first.

So, I recommend getting all of the ingredients for everything set up before continuing.

For the schnitzel, you'll need at least four cutlets, these can be boneless pork chops, boneless chicken breasts and/or thighs, veal, beef, whatever strikes your fancy. If it's more than a quarter inch thick, pound it evenly until it's at or under that point. Dredge in flour, dip in scrambled egg, then press into bread crumbs and start frying them. Keep the finished ones warm on a rack in the oven at it's lowest setting until ready to serve.

At the same time, start making the Jäger Sosse.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

3 strips bacon, diced

1 onion, diced

1 lb sliced mushrooms 

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 

2 cups beef broth or stock

1 tablespoon paprika 

1 teaspoon ground black pepper 

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 

2 tablespoons corn starch in 2 tablespoons water (if needed to thicken)

1/2 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt 

In a skillet over medium high heat, cook the onions and bacon in the butter until the onions are translucent and the bacon fat has rendered. Stir in the mushrooms and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Use the vinegar to deglaze (optional). Stir in the tomato paste, broth, and seasonings, bring to a boil, reduce temperature and allow to simmer for about 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently. If gravy is too thin at this point, add enough of the cornstarch mix to thicken to desired consistency. Stir in parsley and sour cream. Serve hot over schnitzel.

Note: I added some fresh thyme and chopped fresh basil with the parsley tonight, and it was quite good.

Easy Apple Butter

Folks-

It's apple season again, and after posting my version of the Apple Fritter recipe, I figured I should post this Apple Butter recipe I found from Life as a Strawberry. What makes this recipe different is that it's fairly quick, easy, and uses maple syrup as a sweetener instead of brown sugar, meaning that if you're like me and always have real maple syrup in the fridge, you're probably ready to make this with what you already have once you have the apples.

In case you're wondering, I often post these modified recipes here both to record my changes, as well as avoid just how bad and slow the originating websites are. Both this site and Preppy Kitchen from my last recipe have that issue, so I'm sorry to both of those sites if they're not getting as much advertising revenue, but they keep crashing my tablet as I'm cooking. Blogger doesn't.

So here is my variation of Easy Apple Butter!

Ingredients:

About 3lbs apples, cored, peeled, and diced (about 5 medium apples)

1/4 tsp kosher salt

2 tbsp lemon juice 

3 tbsp apple juice or cider

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground allspice 

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Stir all ingredients together in a medium pot, cover, and simmer over a low heat for 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally until apples have softened and reduced. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes, then blend using an immersion blender or stand blender until smooth. If too thin afterwards, return to a low heat and allow to reduce further, stirring often.

Apple Fritters

 Folks-

It's Fall. (Or Autumn. You do you.) That means it's apple season, which means it's time for our annual trek to Gizdich Ranch to pick too many apples, enjoy apple cider slushies, have a slice of Gizdich pie (they come in so many flavors!) bring home some unfiltered apple cider, then stop at the Freedom Meat Locker for lunch and some delicious meat for the barbecue. (It's located in Freedom, CA. It's name is not a political statement.)

We make this trek maybe a couple of times a year, once for berries, once for apples. But every time we do, we come home with way too much fresh fruit. I have to do something with it, so I usually end up making jams and desserts. So far this week I've made apple dumplings, cranberry apple sauce, apple butter, dried apples, and apple fritters.

For the fritters I made for breakfast I needed a simple recipe. I found one at Preppy Kitchen and then modified it (surprise!) using the experience I got from making the Apple Butter and Apple Dumplings. I'll try to post those recipes later today, if I have the time.

In the meantime, here's my version of Apple Fritters!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/4 teaspoon allspice (can add nutmeg and/or cardamom here as well)

3/4 cup milk

2 whole eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1/4 cup pure maple syrup (or 3 tablespoons sugar added to dry ingredients)

2 large apples, finely diced or shredded 

Fresh lemon juice (to keep diced apples from browning).

Vegetable oil for frying

Bring about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a frying pan to 350 degrees F. Whisk together dry ingredients. Fold in wet ingredients. Adrian, then fold in apples. Use a large spoon or scoop to portion the batter out (about 1/4 cup) into the hot oil, and deep fry about 2 minutes on the first side, flip, then another minute on the back. Use a spider or slotted spoon to remove hot fritters from the oil, and let them cool on a wire rack over parchment paper or paper towels for a few minutes. Glaze or coat in cinnamon sugar.

Note: So...uh...Zhenie ate most of them. Yeah. Turns out these are her favorite donuts now. I'm quite surprised. She doesn't usually go for sweets. Like, ever. By her instructions I'm to try this with bananas next time. I will probably also make them with peaches.