A 10 minutes dish - the perfect Schnitzel

Schnitzel served with some cabbage salad

So, this one is a special edition of fast food. A friend of mine asked me to make something that can be done in 10 minutes but that is tasty and good. So I after thinking long and carefully, I decided to submit to this wish and make the perfect Schnitzel. The Schnitzel is maybe the most well-known piece of food that comes from Germany. Every tourist coming to Germany will have tasted before leaving Germany: the Schnitzel. Wikipedia says the following about the Schnitzel:
"Schnitzel (German pronunciation: [ˈʃnɪtsəl]) is a breaded cutlet dish made with boneless meat thinned with a hammer (escalope-style preparation), coated in bread crumbs and fried. It is a popular food in many countries and is made from veal, chicken, beef, turkey or pork."
To this explanation I would like to add the basic information that Schnitzel derives from the German word "Schneiden" or "Geschnitten" or something similar and it means that we are talking about a piece of meat that has been cut of. Nothing more, nothing less.
Interesting is that many people that I have met acutally are convinced that the Schnitzel is a typical German food. Germans have been by-named "Schnitzel", starting from the second world war onwards until today (a good friend from the US still today likes to call me his "Schnitzel" friend).
Today I will erase this misbelief and for all those, who still believe in this false fact, please stand herewith corrected. The Schnitzel is actually not at all coming from Germany. Opinions of historians are split on the origin of the Schnitzel. Some say it come from Italy where they found the notion of the "Costoletta alla milanese", today better know as the "scaloppine milanese". Other say that it originates from Vienna, for this the world famously know "Wiener Schnitzel".
A true portion of this myth is that we Germans gladly and convenient adopted the Schnitzel and made it one of our national famous dishes. You can get the Schnitzel from north to south Germany in regular restaurants, pubs or even on the small street stalls that sell Brats and Schnitzel in a bun. Today you can also find a surplus supply of different Schnitzel recipes and ways of preparation according to the toppings and sauces that come with them, just to name a few there is the Jäger-Schnitzel, Zigeuner-Schnitzel, Paprika-Schnitzel, Käse-Schnitzel, Rahm-Schnitzel or the Cordon-Bleu. But you can also find that Schnitzel differ according to the different meat that they are made from. You can find the Schweine-Schnitzel (pork), Puten-Schnitzel (turkey hen) or the Hänchen-Schnitzel (chicken). But if you want order the original "Wiener Schnitzel" know that it is always made using veal while the "Schnitzel Wiener Art" or simply "paniertes Schweineschnitzel" is made from pork.
Anyhow, enough of the dry theory, you can find many more hungry fun facts about the Schnitzel on Google. Let's get started trying to make the prefect Schnitzel, shall we? I actually tried quite a few recipes, but they are more or less the same and the most important things in making a perfect Schnitzel are two steps, the coating and the frying. The idea about the Schnitzel is to enclose the piece of meat with a protective coating so that as little meat juices evaporate as possible. This way you will get a perfect Schnitzel with a crispy coating and a soft and juicy heart of meat.

In order to reach this, the first thing we have to pay attention to is the coating of the meat. I follow the idea that mixing the flour, eggs and spices of the coating upfront and not keep them separated and dip the meat in one coating after another, loosing half of the previous coating. By mixing those things together so that the coating is thick and like a thick sauce béchamel, we achieve a consistent and thick enough mixture that will stick well and that will protect the meat. I also do not use a meat hammer to thin the meat out. I think it is not worth it because the meat will return to its old form more or less, once frying it. 
So I simply skip this step. So, here is a bit an unusual but tasty Schnitzel recipe for you.

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces of nice and lean pork meat
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 EL flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 table spoon of Dijon Mustard
• Bread crumbs

Ingredients

Mix the spices, flour and eggs together and make sure the consistency is as above described, if it's too runny, add some flour or add some more egg if it's too dry. Put the mix in a flat plate so you can immerse the pieces of meat in it, then put the bread crumbs in another flat plate. Now take the pieces of meat and put them in the mixture and coat them well from both sides. Then immerse them in the bread crumbs, the coating should be sticky enough to also make the breadcrumbs glue will to the mix. Now we got the protective coating around the meat, it’s time for the frying.

I actually like to fry the Schnitzel different than other pieces of meat starting with a medium heat and later on finish the frying on a higher temperature. So first, add some butter to a frying pan and put it on medium heat. Wait till the butter is melted and hot enough. Then immerse the Schnitzel in the hot butter and start off to fry the Schnitzel. When the coating just reaches a solid state, turn the Schnitzel around and fry from the other side until the coating is solid there as well.

Frying the Schnitzel on low flame to solidify the coating

Then turn it around again and continue the frying until the coating starts to gets slightly brown, and then it’s time to turn around again and turn the heat down on 1/3.

Schnitzel is lightly brown already and browning from the other side

Like this I have enough time to prepare the other things for dinner while the Schnitzel browns slightly from the other side. When I am ready I will crank up the heat for a last turn. This time I am frying the coating from both sides until it is nice and crispy, turn it around and finish the other side off. Then take it out, plate it up immediately.

Finished Schnitzel nice and brown with a crispy coating and a juicy piece of meat inside

Schnitzel normally is perfect with a slice of lemon and some French fries, but it's equally good with some Swabian potatosalad or some Bavarian cabbage salad. Here you go, this one is for you Dude, enjoy your less than 10 minutes Schnitzel and let me know how it tasted.