Paprika schnitzel with mushroom and cream sauce

Austrian cooking with a touch of Hungary

Wiener schnitzel is a typical Austrian dish meaning breaded and fried veal cutlet.  I was in Heidelberg, Germany (West Germany when I was there) on vacation about 1984, and had a variation with cream sauce. When I got back, I tried for about a year to recreate the recipe or at least develop a similar dish. I like to think that not only did I succeed, but my paprika schnitzel (schnitzel means cutlet without the bone) is even better than what I tasted in Germany. It is still today one of my all time favorite recipes. It’s a bit rich so I eat it infrequently, but I savor every moment when I do. I have spent years working in Hungary, and my friends and colleagues there introduced me to all the varieties of paprika. I eventually added paprika to my original dish.  If you can find sweet Hungarian paprika, you must use it.

Ingredients (serves 6):

• 1 ½ pounds – thinly sliced veal (about ¼ of an inch thick – see photo)
• 4 or 5 tablespoons – extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup – all purpose flour
• 3 – eggs, beaten
• 2 cups – breadcrumbs (or as much as is needed to cover the meat)
• 1 pound – broad noodles
• 1 – large onion, chopped
• 1 pound – button mushrooms, sliced
• 2 teaspoons – paprika (sweet Hungarian paprika if possible)
• 1 cup – whipping cream (not heavy cream)
• 1 tablespoon – beef bouillon (I like the Better Than Bouillon brand)

Preparation:

Salt and pepper each side of the veal slices.

Veal cutlets

Prepare the flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs in three separate bowls.

Flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs

First, dip the veal into the flour and shake excess off. Then dip it into the eggs and cover finally with breadcrumbs (press the crumbs into the meat to make sure they coat the meat well). Heat several teaspoons of olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of the pan) in a pan over medium to medium-high heat (you may have to cook the meat in batches) and fry the veal to a golden brown on each side (don’t add the meat to the oil until the oil is hot).

Frying the veal

While you are frying the veal, boil several quarts of salted water and cook the noodles. When the veal is finished, place on a platter and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm.

The sauce:

Add a few tablespoons olive oil to another pan along with the onions, mushrooms, and paprika. Fry until the water has cooked out of the mushrooms.

Mushrooms, paprika, and onions.

Add the cream and beef bouillon and mix and heat until the sauce is hot. Add a slice of veal and a helping of noodles to each plate and spread the sauce over both. Serve immediately. Enjoy.

Voila

J. Botticelli