Pork Schnitzel or As We Like to Call It: Smashed Pork

This is one of those dishes I intentionally researched to get the recipe. Chris grew up eating Wiener Schnitzel and I had been experiencing chicken fatigue. Also: Schnitzel is a fun word to say.
It simply means "slice" or "little slice" (more appropriately "thin slice") in German.

It's pretty simple: pound out the meat, dredge in flour, egg, breadcrumb and fry. Squeeze with lemon.

We've intentionally cut back on the amount of beef we consume so we went with Pork. Or as some would say: Wiener Schnitzel vom Schwein. Mmmm....schwein. Also fun to say.

When I set out to make this I was going for the puffy/wrinkled coating that Schnitzel is known for but I wanted to be sure it was crispy and packed with flavor then covered with fresh lemon juice. And I didn't want dried out pork. Chris joined in the effort and after each of us making it a few times we've dialed this recipe in.

Ingredients:

• High-quality, thick-cut, boneless pork loin chops. I buy two and then slice the chops to make four chops total. Obviously you can buy regular thickness but I think this gives you a better chop to work with.
• Flour (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 egg plus a splash of whole milk or cream (light, heavy, half and half)
• Breadcrumbs + Panko = this ratio is not crucial to get exact but it is important to have both. We do somewhere between 50/50 and 65/35 breadcrumbs to panko.
• Italian seasoning/garlic powder/onion powder/lemon pepper/salt
• Lemon zest from 1/2 lemon
• Same lemon, cut into wedges

Note: I tried adding fresh herbs to the breadcrumb mix ... they can be risky as they might burn so if you choose to do this chop them very fine. The lemon pepper and lemon zest (Chris' addition) are key to the breadcrumb mixture. Don't skip them.

• About 1/2 bag Extra Wide egg noodles
• 2-3 TBS Softened unsalted butter (I recently discovered the glory that is Irish Butter. Highly recommend.)
• About 1 1/2 TBS chopped fresh herbs: I use basil, oregano, rosemary. Eyeball this. And remember that a little rosemary goes a LONG way so don't overdo it)
• Lemon juice (splash)
• White wine (splash)
• Salt/pepper

Note: You can use dried herbs here...but fresh is so much better. Just be sure to use less and to make the butter ahead of time so the herbs have a chance to hydrate and release flavor. The wine and lemon help brighten it up and make it a little less heavy on the butter.

Prep:

Trim the fat from the pork and pound out to about 1/4 to 1/8th of an inch thick piece. Use the smooth side of a meat tenderizer or you can use a small fry pan. Set aside.

Prepare three shallow bowls: flour (add salt/pepper and some garlic powder. Ok to eyeball). Whisk/stir to incorporate. Egg/cream: add a splash of chipotle hot sauce if you have it. Makes no sense but adds good flavor. Whisk. Breadcrumb mixture: add lemon zest, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, lemon pepper - all a good heavy shake or two. If you need to measure: about a Tablespoon of Italian seasoning and somewhere between 1/2 and a teaspoon of each of the rest.

Make compound butter for the noodles. Chop the fresh herbs up and mix into the softened butter. This doesn't have to be precise or well incorporated since it will be melted into the noodles and set aside.

Cover the bottom of a large fry pan with EVOO. Heat just a hair above medium heat.

Heat the oven to 350 and place a sheet pan with a grate on it. (I usually wrap the pan in foil for easy cleaning.)

"Schnitzel! That's a fun word!"

Dredge the meat through the flour, shake excess, then egg, let excess drip off, then breadcrumbs making sure each piece is well-coated.

Cook:

Pan fry the meat about 1 1/2- 2 or so minutes per side - you know it's done when you have a nice golden color.

As each pork slice is done, place in the oven on the grate (if they appear very greasy, it's ok to set on a paper tower for a minute or two before placing in the oven.)

Once all of the pork is in the oven, bring a large saucepan of water to boil. Add the noodles and finish cooking the pork in the oven while the noodles boil (about 9 minutes). Note: cook for about a minute less than the recommended time for a non mushy noodle).

Drain cooked noodles and place back in pot. Stir the seasoned butter in, add a splash of white wine and squeeze a lemon wedge in. Taste it. Add seasoning to taste (salt, pepper, herbs etc.)

Pull pork from oven and serve each piece with a lemon wedge squeezed over it and a fresh wedge on the plate and noodles on the side. This dish goes well with asparagus (grilled or broiled with EVOO, salt and pepper).

Smashed Pork