Schnitzel can be any boneless meat, flattened so that it is thin and coated in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and then fried. The most famous version is the Wiener Schnitzel, Vienna Schnitzel, which uses Veal and is normally served with potato salad. In Germany it is most common to have a version made with pork. At home for a slightly healthier version I use chicken or turkey.

Schnitzel is the reason my family came to Germany. I had the job opportunity to come to Germany or stay in the UK. My company paid for an orientation trip. My boys were a bit uncertain whether they really wanted to come. On the trip we went to a great German pub/ restaurant and had Schnitzel with Bratkartoffeln. We all loved it and the boys definitely wanted to have more.

This Schnitzel with mushroom sauce recipe is inspired by our local favourite German restaurant the Einhorn in Kaiserswerth. Be warned this recipe makes a lot of washing up. It does taste great and is a cheaper and healthier version of the restaurant classic. You can serve it with either chips or Bratkartoffeln. Bratkartoffeln are the German version of pan fried potatoes served with fired onions, diced bacon and parsley, they are yummy. The best Schnitzel I have ever had was in Austria and they served it with cranberry sauce.

All of the supermarkets here sell meat already cut into pieces for Schnitzel, if you can’t find any it is easy to turn some regular Turkey, Chicken or Pork fillets into cuts you can use for schnitzel. If using Chicken or Turkey breast cut the breast into 2.5cm wide slices, you will probably end up with about 3 slices per breast, make sure you cut them through the middle of the breast rather than from the top downwards. Cover your chopping board with cling film, place the meat on top of the cling film and then cover with another layer of cling film. Hit the covered meat with a meat tenderiser, or a rolling pin if you haven’t got a tenderiser, you are aiming to flatten the meat until it is about 0.5cm thick. It is then ready to use.

When I have classified this recipe I have called it German, similar recipes can be found in many different countries. In German Schnitzel with mushroom sauce is called Jaegerschnitzel, hunters schnitzel. It is a very common practice here for people to go foraging for mushrooms in the forest. I’m not an expert so I found mine in the supermarket. For me the recipe will always remind me of my time in Germany.

I hope you like it and can cope with the washing up.

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