COVID has been tough in so many ways, but it has also spurred amazing creativity. Two of my brothers came up with a great idea. Like many families, we are live in many different places. We are in touch but only get together physically at a family reunion every couple of years.

Since everyone has to eat, we like each other, and we’re all decent cooks, my brothers suggested that we get together on Zoom to hang out and prepare a meal together. We recently had our second cook together and one of my brothers decided on an Oktoberfest-themed meal: chicken schnitzel with spätzle and cucumber salad.

The recipes themselves were solid and not complicated, but very tasty. In this post, I have shared the recipes below. But, what I’m really interested in sharing are a few things I learned in this cook and a few short-cuts.

1. Making the Spätzle

Spätzle is a dumpling made with pea-sized dough that is boiled. There are two challenges with making spätzle: consistency of the dough and the method of making the dumplings.

The recipe below really needs more water so the dough is a bit thinner and can more easily flow through the holes. If you don’t have a spätzle maker (shown below), you can also use a colander with large holes.

2. Managing the oil temperature

The recipe for schnitzel calls for the oil to be at 360º. I would normally use a candy thermometer to manage temperature, but my thermometer broke a few months ago. I only had a meat thermometer that doesn’t register up to 360º and a couple of instant read thermometers that I wasn’t sure I wanted to subject to those temperatures.

One of my brothers blew my mind! He said that he uses an infrared thermometer. So, I went out to my garage, dusted off my infrared thermometer and it worked like a charm. Wow! Mind blown.

3. Schnitzel-izing

To make a good schnitzel, the meat needs to be thin. You can use a tenderizer (shown below) or a rolling pin. One of my brothers used plastic wrap with a bit of oil so the plastic didn’t stick to the meat. I decided to use a gallon freezer bag with the meat tenderizer, which worked great. I got the chicken breast to approximately 1/2 inches thick. This makes the cook go very quickly so the color of the panko browns at the same rate the chicken itself is cooked.

4. Preserving the oil

I usually collect and discard oil from a cook. One of my brothers said he strains the oil using a coffee filter and reused the oil. I thought that was absolutely brilliant, so I attempted that recollection method. I have to say … it feels kind of righteous 🤓

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Recipes

Chicken Schnitzel

Ingredients

Flavorless oil, for deep-frying

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 large eggs, lightly beaten with 2 tablespoons water

2 cups panko breadcrumbs

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Lemon wedges, for serving

Instructions

• Pour 1 1/2 inches of oil into a large heavy pot or high-sided skillet. Clip on a deep-fry thermometer and heat the oil over medium-high heat to 360 degrees F.
• Set up a dredging station: Place the flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs in each of 3 separate bowls. Season the breadcrumbs with the paprika, 1 teaspoon salt and a few turns of pepper.
• Place a piece of chicken between 2 large pieces of plastic wrap and use a rolling pin or other blunt object to pound the chicken until it is as thin as you can make it without it tearing. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
• Coat the chicken first in the flour, then in the egg wash and finally in the breadcrumbs. Fry in batches, flipping once, until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet to drain; season both sides with salt and pepper. Hold in a warm oven if not serving immediately. Serve with lemon wedges.

Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

2 large Cucumbers

3 tablespoons Olive Oil

2 tablespoons Vinegar

1 tablespoons Water

Parsley

Maggi (https://www.publix.com/pd/maggi-seasoning/RIO-PCI-104876)

Salt and Pepper

Instructions

• Peel cucumbers, cutting towards the stem end. Slice very thinly, add oil and combine using hands to crush the cucumbers. Add other ingredients immediately before serving.

Spätzle

Ingredients

4 cups Flour

3 Eggs

1 cup Water

1 tablespoon salt

Instructions

• Prepare a firm dough from the flour, eggs, water and salt.
• Beat until it comes easily away from the sides of the bowl.
• Form Dumplings and cook in boiling salted water.
• Skim them out and dip in cold water and serve immediately on a hot platter.
• Spaetzle may be browned lightly in butter before serving.