Wienerschnitzel?

For our family occasions, such as birthdays, or yesterday's Father's Day, the honoree gets to decide what he or she would like for dinner. I'm not sure what my husband's first choice actually was, but the kids declared they wanted "pounded pork".

Okay, get your mind out of the gutter.

That's kind of our version of wienerschnitzel, made with pork rather than veal. Just as there are many different dialects and regions and so on, I'm sure there are many different versions of this dish. But this is one of our family favorites and I'm going to share it here today.

Start out with a whole pork loin (this is a big one, or you can use the kind that comes two in a vacuum pack, they are a little smaller), milk and eggs, flour, panko (Japanese style bread crumbs) or regular bread crumbs (forgot to add them to the picture here), salt, white pepper, garlic powder, butter, oil (I used olive oil here because we had a lot of it).

The pork loin usually needs to be trimmed of the fat:

After trimming it should look more like this:
Slice the loin into finger width pieces (I have fat fingers--that's about 1/2 to 3/4"):

Cover one slice with a plastic bag to minimize splatter mess...

and gently pound thin. You want it thin but not so thin that it will tear when you pick it up, about 1/8" (hint: start from the middle and work your way out).

Now you have all your flattened pieces laid out. (Notice I added the panco to the picture.)

Lightly sprinkle each with the white pepper, garlic powder, and salt, one side only.

Make the egg dip using two or three eggs...

beaten well with some milk.

Next get your three dipping stations ready: first the flour, second the egg wash, and thirdly the panco.
Here's the stack of prepared loin ready for frying:

Over medium high heat melt 1 tablespoon butter with about 1/2 cup oil.

Add the meat when the temperature comes up and a drop of bread crumb sizzles immediately upon being dropped in.

Cook a couple minutes, until it becomes golden brown, then flip over to cook the other side.

Did you notice the tiny piece on the upper right disappeared?

After a couple minutes when the second side is golden brown, drain on paper towels.

Cook the remaining cutlets the same. You may have to add more butter and oil to the pan.

I promise you will not need a knife to cut these.

The great thing about these are their versatility. Sometimes we squeeze a lemon over the top. Other times we'll make a mushroom gravy. With the gravy it's called Jaegerschnitzel, or hunter cutlet. You could add a slice of cheese on top and melt it in the oven, then add marinara sauce and voila! you have pork parmesan. The cold leftovers make the best sandwiches. Add mayo and dijon to bread, slap the cutlet in between and heaven! And of course you could build on to the sandwich, with tomato, lettuce, cheese, etc.

ENJOY!