WINE WITH…Pork Schnitzel with Apple and Endive Salad
This delicious recipe is quick and simple to prepare. The only “trick” to it is keeping the oil hot enough to quickly brown the schnitzels
without burning them. Because we prefer a light and crisp schnitzel rather than one with a thicker coating, we usually skip the traditional flour coating and dip our schnitzels only in egg and bread crumbs.
In the German and Austrian tradition schnitzels are generally served with French fries, spaetzle or potato salad, but for a change of pace we think this apple and endive salad makes a refreshing counterpoint to the dish.
Pork Schnizel With Apple and Endive Salad
Serves 4
For the Salad:
3 Honeycrisp or other sweet, juicy apples
4-5 endives
1 head radicchio
5 tablespoons walnut oil or olive oil
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar
salt and pepper
Quarter and core the apples and cut them into bite-size pieces. Trim the endives, slice them in half lengthwise, and cut them into approximately 1-inch pieces. Tear the radicchio into bite size pieces and toss them with the apples and endives in a salad bowl. Whisk together the oil and vinegar, season with salt and pepper, and fold this dressing into the other ingredients.
For the Schnizel:
4 boneless pork cutlets, pounded to ¼ inch thickness
salt and pepper
1 egg
1 cup panko or similar style bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Season the pork cutlets generously with salt and pepper. Whisk the egg in a shallow bowl. Put the panko in another shallow bowl. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large cast iron or other sturdy skillet. While it is heating, dip the cutlets one by one into the egg, and then into the breadcrumbs, coating both sides of the meat. When the butter foams, add the breaded cutlets in a single layer without overcrowding (work in batches if necessary). When each cutlet is golden brown on the bottom, flip it and brown the other side.
To serve, divide the salad among 4 plates. Rest a cutlet against each serving of salad and sprinkle a tablespoon of Parmesan over each one.
* * *
Because the breading is light and the cutlets thin, this dish works well with both red and white wines. Perhaps not surprisingly, two Rieslings (one bone dry, the other a tad sweet) starred in our tastings, but then so too did a couple of light-bodied reds (and a value-priced Viognier). What unites all the wines we’re recommending is that, while full of flavor, they are not heavy or overly robust. They thus match the schnitzel in terms of body and weight.
