Turkey Schnitzel

My daughter Amy lives in the lovely land of Austria and I am fortunate to be visiting for a week. One of my favorite dishes she makes is Turkey Schnitzel. She made some for a traditional Sunday dinner today-- I know, I know "Lucky You!"

Turkey Schnitzel

1 ½ to 2 lbs. turkey breast cutlets

flour for dredging

3 to 4 eggs, beaten

1 ½ cups fine breadcrumbs 

1 lb. butter (unsalted is best, but reguar will do)

Pound each turkey cutlet with a meat tenderizer or mallet (a marble rolling pin will work in a pinch) to achieve about 1/8 inch uniform thickness. Next, dredge both sides of each cutlet in flour, dip in egg and finally coat with breadcrumbs. Melt butter in a deep-sided pan over medium high heat. When butter is hot and bubbly, cook schnitzel one at a time for 2 or 3 minutes per side, turning once. They should be golden to deep brown. As you continue cooking, the butter will get a bit darker. That is fine, just be sure to keep the heat low enough to avoid burning the butter but high enough to cook the schnitzel quickly.  As each piece is finished, place on a serving tray in a warming drawer (or in a low temp oven) until ready to serve. 

Serve with plenty of preiselbeere or lingon berry preserves. Cranberry sauce can be substituted if you cannot get to Austria for the preiselbeere or Ikea for the lingon berry.

Hints: I can get turkey cutlets in packages at local grocery stores. Breadcrumbs are readily available as well, or you can make your own. Just make them very fine. The breadcrumbs Amy uses are made from the rolls here called semmel and they are fabulous but sadly, unavailable in the USA as far as I know. We like to serve a green salad and some roasted potatoes as sides--Austrian potatoes are also unavailable but Yukon gold come close. Real butter is a must for this dish. You end up throwing most of it out but the flavor cannot be replicated.