Friday Night Menu, Wiener Schnitzel

I decided to look for inspiration on Wolfgang Puck's website this time. I have never been disappointed after making one of his recipes. I saw the recipe for Jaeger Schnitzel where you can use beef, veal or venison, it's pounded out thin and coated in flour before sauteing in a skillet. I immediately thought I would do veal and I checked out my "Food Lover's Companion" book for any information and it said that a Schnitzel made with veal is called a Wiener Schnitzel (you learn something new everyday). It's not that easy of coarse. The recipe has a sauce and it calls for veal stock, so off to the store for veal bones and a night of simmering I went!

Pot Stickers

I forgot to get dumpling wrappers at the store for the pot stickers so I had to be creative. I always have Spring Roll Wrappers in the freezer from the Chinese market. I never used the spring roll wrappers in any other way but to deep fry them with a filling. I cut them down the middle and put a small amount of the filling, which was a flavorful ground pork mixture, on one end. I then folded it up like you would fold a flag forming a triangle. I put them on a sheet pan in the refrigerator until I was ready to serve. When the time came I heated a skillet with a little safflower oil and got it hot then added the "pot stickers" to the pan. Once they started to brown and form a bit of a crust which takes only a few minutes at med-high, I put in about 1/4 cup or so of water and immediately cover the pan to create steam. I set the timer for 5 minutes and removed the cover and let any remaining liquid evaporate. Serve with a sauce that had rice wine vinegar, ginger syrup (below) and sesame oil. It was goooood! Crunchy bottoms and steamed tops are just what the doctor ordered.

Ginger syrup; I made this so Tony could make me a ginger gimlet and he did a fine job! I boiled 1 cup of water with about 1 cup of chopped fresh ginger. When it comes to a boil cover the pan and remove from the heat and let it steep for 5 minutes. Strain the ginger out and return the ginger water to the pan and add a scant cup of sugar to the pan. Heat over medium, stirring to dissolve the sugar and let it simmer for about a minute. Pour the syrup in a bowl set over a bowl of ice water. Once cool you can use it how ever you wish.

Wiener Schnitzel

The veal stock is roasted veal bones and onions for about 1 1/2 hours, then add to a stock pot with carrots, celery, seasonings, tomatoes and garlic. Cover with water and simmer for 6 hours or up to 24 hours. I started making this about 6:00 on Thursday night so I let it simmer over a very low heat overnight. I added more water in the morning and let it go until about noon. I strained it out, removed any of the fat from the surface and reduced it further. I put it in the frig and when I was ready to make the main course I browned the veal on both sides and removed it to a plate. In the pan I added onions, carrots, celery and a bouquet garni. Add wine and reduce, add some of the veal stock and the veal back in. In another pan cook some bacon, mushrooms, pearl onions and parsley in some butter and oil then add that to the pan with the sauce.

Camozola Mashed Potatoes

I simply mashed in about 3 oz of blue cheese into the potatoes along with butter and milk until the consistency was nice and creamy and delicious.

Steamed Brocolette

Brocolette I believe is the same as Broccolini which is a combination of Chinese kale and broccoli. I steamed it until it was tender which seemed to take about 10 minutes. I cut the base of the stems off and just let them remain whole and gorgeous. I put them on the plate and sprinkled a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil over the top.

Tiramisu

I have made tiramisu many times but always with Lady Finger cookies. You make a coffee and Liquor syrup and dip each Lady Finger into the syrup, and that's a good way of doing it but Friday Night is all about trying new things. I wanted to make a Tiramisu with a thin cake in place of the cookies. I gotta say this is much better! The cake is 3 ingredients; eggs, sugar and flour. It comes together in minutes and bakes for 12-15 minutes on a 1/2 sheet pan. This is a Wolfgang Puck recipe so go to his website for the exact recipe. You make an espresso syrup and a Mascarpone cream mixture. To assemble you put a layer of the cream in the bottom of a 9X13 pan, then 1/2 of the sheet cake, pour over 1/2 of the espresso syrup. You do that one more time with cream, cake and syrup then top with one more of the cream, shave some chocolate over and your done. There is no dipping into syrup and wondering if you dipped too long or too little. It's less expensive because you don't buy all the cookies. The only change I would have to work on for our own personal taste is the cream mixture, which is very rich. I want to do not quite as much Mascarpone cheese and a little more Sabayon, which is a egg and sugar mixture cooked over a double-boiler then the Marsala and Brandy are whisked in...or is there no such thing as too rich??