Recipe Notes: Chicken Schnitzel

30 April 2020

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, March 2020; recipe ("for two") is available online

Schnitzel is just meat, pounded thin, breaded, and fried in oil. This is not the first breaded/fried chicken cutlet we have tried. Since we have enjoyed other versions of fried chicken cutlets it seemed worth trying this one. It is characterized by a cutlet with a fine, wrinkly crust that puffs away from the chicken during frying. Could this replace other versions of this dish in our repertoire?

Three shallow pans were set up to bread the chicken: flour, egg beaten with vegetable oil, and bread crumbs. A boneless, skinless chicken breast was halved horizontally then pounded into a uniform thickness of about ¼ inch. Each cutlet was seasoned with ⅛ teaspoon pepper and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. (The directions were to season both sides of the cutlet, I seasoned just one side.) Each cutlet was dredged in flour, coated first with the egg mixture, then with bread crumbs, and set on a wire rack to dry. Two cups of vegetable oil was heated in a Dutch oven to 350°. Two cutlets were placed in the hot oil and the pot was shaken continuously until the cutlets were wrinkled and light golden brown. Total time to prepare this dish was just 40 minutes.

The chicken coating was very good with a great crunch and the chicken was tender and juicy. However, it was much too salty even though I used only half as much salt as specified in the recipe. We had leftovers which were reheated in a skillet. These were good, too, though not as crunchy on the outside or as juicy on the inside as the original serving. This was a very quick recipe to execute, however the logistics and cleanup were a little daunting especially for just two people. The setup included a sheet pan/cooling rack for the raw cutlets, three shallow dishes with the ingredients for coating, and a second sheet pan/cooling rack for the breaded chicken. My kitchen does not have the room to conveniently set up such an assembly line. Then when you're done there are two cups of oil that need to be discarded. This would be a good dish to prepare for a larger group of people but the set up and clean up were a little too much for a dinner for two.