No, not Jagermeister! Thank you very much. Not that I haven’t had my fill of that uber-sweet spirit on occasion, this is a “Jager” of a different sort. This dish is one of my most favorite dishes, “of all time.” When I was stationed at my first and only permanent duty station in the Army, I had my first there. My first experience with schnitzel, what did you think it was the first of? We used to go to the officer’s club at lunch on certain days and eat the wiener schnitzel with mashed potatoes at lunch. Let me tell you, the “O” club was much nicer than the “E” (enlisted-men’s) club. Mind you, that was the only thing, besides their quarters that I envied about being and officer. It’s a political thing that I would rather not explain…

So…this Panko crusted beautiful veal scallop in mushroom sauce is a true German dish. Well, at least the protein is. I tried to make spaetzle while I was making this, but, alas, I really botched the spaetzle, so in the garbage it went. What a shame, but the duck fat Dutch potatoes worked as a great replacement!

Schnitzel is very similar to chicken fried steak. It is typically pork or veal, I uses veal, breaded and fried. Wiener Schnitzel is not only a fast food restaurant in southern California serving hot dogs, rather a veal or pork cutlet breaded and fried, served with a lemon wedge. Jagerschnitzel is Hunter’s schnitzel, and I am pretty sure that it is the mushroom gravy that makes it “Jager", per se.



The above picture is McKinnley in a perplexed state. He tends to get in them quite often when I am in the kitchen. That is him peering into the kitchen for one reason or another. He is an extremely intelligent breed of dog. When I scoop food from the cutting board to the cooking area, he stares at the floor waiting, just waiting, to see if something, anything, drops from my hands. He isn’t allowed in the kitchen. So he will lay at the kitchen entry with his nose across the threshold, or put his paw across the threshold. This, you see, puts him in a defiant state, puts him in the kitchen. I have to remind him (read: yell at him) to “get out of the kitchen” for him to pull his paws back. It is a healthy exercise or maybe just an exercise. In any case, meet one of my doggies who likes to watch.

On to the dish, but first a couple of shout-outs.

I received a meme from Nikki over at Nik Snacks. She cooks up some really great dishes as well as blogs about technique. Check her out. Well, this meme has me answer a bunch of questions like an exam. So with abandon, here are my responses:

1) LAST MOVIE U SAW IN A THEATRE?
The Bourne Ultimatum. I usually wait for everything to come on DVD. I like my home theater!

2) WHAT BOOK ARE U READING?
Grisham’s “The Broker.”

3) FAVOURITE BOARD GAME?
Chess. WHAT!?

4) FAVOURITE MAGAZINE?
GQ

5) FAVOURITE SMELLS?
My wife’s…

6) FAVOURITE SOUNDS?
A 4-4 beat with a violin.

7) WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD?
My knees when I attempt to return to earth from a lay-up.

8) WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN U WAKE?
“Drop your …. and grab your socks!!!”

9) FAVOURITE FAST FOOD PLACE?
Mr. Orph’s Kitchen.

10) FUTURE CHILDS NAME?
Not gonna have any, but I like Skyler and Hayden and Zeus.

11) FINISH THIS STATEMENT—’IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY I’D…
Buy a bigger kitchen and more cars!

12) DO U DRIVE FAST?
When I had my BMW 7-series, I got her up to 145, my current car has gone 135+, so no.

13) DO U SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
My wife is stuffed with organs, does that count?

14) STORMS–COOL OR SCARY?
I just paid a ton of $$ for my front lawn to be sodded, so yeah, rain, baby, rain!

15) WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?
A 71 green Impala. We called her Bomba Verde! That is “green bomb". I put house speakers in the rear window. It was soooo old that is had an FM tuner. Plenty of back seat space though, I must say!!!

16) FAVOURITE DRINK?
Cognac! Not allowed to have that anymore.

17) FINISH THIS STATEMENT-IF I HAD THE TIME I WOULD
Play something…golf

18) DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI?
Sometimes. Weird question…

19) IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY OTHER COLOUR, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE?
Not grey…

20) NAME ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS U HAVE LIVED IN?
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Abington, PA, Paoli, PA, Elkins Park, PA, Jacksonville, NC, Augusta, GA, Columbus, GA, Atlanta, GA, Roswell, GA, Granada Hills, CA.

21) FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
American football, tennis, golf, baseball, soccer, women’s softball.

22) ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
She seems to be one of the people I actually may have known in another life. The connection is real. She is a genuine, straight-up, on-point, person; very dynamic!

23) WHATS UNDER YOUR BED?
Monsters?

24) WOULD U LIKE TO BE BORN AS YOURSELF AGAIN??
Absolutely!

25) MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL?
Yes!

26) OVER EASY OR SUNNY SIDE UP?
Depends on the day; I like them both.

27) FAVOURITE PLACE TO RELAX?
In my chair! Every man over 30 should have a chair. I am working on my 2nd one. This one is leather!

28) FAVOURITE PIE?
Not humble; apple crumb.

29) FAVOURITE ICE CREAM FLAVOUR?
Homemade.

30) OF ALL THE PEOPLE U HAVE TAGGED, WHO IS THE MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND FIRST?
No clue…

I have also been the beneficiary of the Yummy Blog Award award from Bren over at FlaNboyantEats. Bren, thank you very much! I truly appreciate it!

In my next post, I will pass the award and the meme on to other blogs. My birthday this month turned me officially “old” so you must pause with me as I pause…for the cause.

“Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.”

...

So you want to make the Jager huh? It’s easy…

INGREDIENTS: (for four (4) cutlets. you should do more!)
4 veal cutlets
1 cup (or so) Panko bread crumbs (I like Panko, use whatever you like)
1/2 cup (or so) AP Flour
1 egg - beaten with 1 tbsp water
1 cup (or so) of baby bellas - sliced (no button mushrooms!!!) You better not open a can either!
1/2 cup Cab or good red wine
1/2 cup beef stock
1/2 cup heavy cream (it’s okay to use sour cream here, but NO BUTTON MUSHROOMS!)
2 tbsp olive oil
Butter
S&P to taste

METHOD:

If the veal is thin enough, skip this step, otherwise, pound the veal with a mallet to 1/4 inch thickness.

Dredge the veal in the flour, then the egg mixture, then the bread crumbs. Set aside.

Heat an oven to 200.

Heat a skillet to medium-high. Add oil.

When the oil is shimmering, it’s hot, add the veal. Do not crowd the pan, you want them to fry, not steam.

Cook the veal on one side until browned, about 4 minutes, then flip. Cook until the breading is crisp.

It doesn’t take veal long to cook, and you don’t want it overcooked. Enjoy this, PLEASE!

Place the cooked veal into the oven to keep warm, season with S&P.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the pan drippings, if necessary.

Turn the heat to high.

Add the mushrooms with a “pat” butter. Cook until soft.

Add the wine (OFF THE HEAT)

De-glaze the pan by scraping the bits.

Put the skillet back on the heat.

Add 1 tbsp of flour and whisk it in.

Allow the roux to color - until about bronze.

Lower the heat to medium-high.

Whisk in the cream.

Whisk in the stock.

Crank the heat and reduce until desired thickness.

Plate the cutlets with the sauce.