Just returned from vacation, and I'm happy to be flexing my cooking muscles in my own kitchen again. Greg declared tonight's meal the best one he's had in two weeks. I'm happy my cooking is better than Pizza Pizza and My Favourite Chinese Food.
In June, I flew twice to Nova Scotia, without my children in tow. Since I had time, I treated myself to two food magazines, one each from the YOW and YHZ airports. Tonight's meal comes from olive magazine, a British food magazine I was previously unfamiliar with. Now I have a pile of recipes I want to make, all involving weighed ingredients and Celsius oven temperatures. I converted for your ease. :)
Peppered pork schnitzel with watercress salad
dried breadcrumbs, 75 g (about 1 cup)
ground black pepper, 1 tsp
salt, to taste
egg, 1 large, beaten
flour for dusting
fast fry pork chops, 4 small or 2 large, about 300 g in total
oil (grapeseed or other high heat handling oil, plus olive for salad)
watercress, 2 handfuls
red onion, 1/2 small, finely sliced
cherry tomatoes, 10, halved
radishes, 2, sliced thin
lemon, 1, half juiced, half in wedges
mayonnaise, to serve (optional)
Mix the breadcrumbs, pepper and a good pinch of salt together and spread over a plate. Put the egg on another plate. Dust the pork in a little flour then dip in egg and coat in the seasoned breadcrumbs.
Heat 2-3 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan. Add the schnitzel and fry on each side for 2-3 minutes until crisp and golden.
While the pork is cooking, put the watercress, onion, tomatoes and radishes in bowl and dress with lemon juice, olive oil and season. Toss together, then serve with the pork, some lemon wedges and a dollop of mayo, if you like.
Notice how the ingredient name comes before the measurement? It also doesn't tell you how high to heat the pan, or how exactly to dress the salad, like they expect you just to know. Those crafty Brits, making my brain work harder, or maybe just expecting me not to need my hand held.
This recipe is simple, simple, and it was pretty good. I just noticed now it calls for a lot of pepper (thus the title, doh!); I didn't use the amount called for, I just ground some over the breadcrumbs. The radishes were my own addition, when I found them in my crisper still looking good from whenever I bought them weeks (months?) ago. Do you see how much oil this recipe requires for frying the pork? Now that is an amount I can appreciate, non of this North American weight watching 1 tsp bullshit. (Sorry, Dad.)
To accompany, I made oven-roasted mini potatoes, a staple in our household, even though I am the only potato lover (what is wrong with these people?!). Take some baby potatoes, halve the big ones, toss them all with a couple of good lugs of olive oil, loads of salt and pepper, and roast at 425°F for about 30 minutes. For the last 5 minutes, throw in some diced garlic (lots, if you're a Sellers!). Delish.
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