Gutes Essen!

Over the weekend I looked in the fridge only to discover that the gi-gantor pack of fresh mushrooms that I HAD to have from Costco was about to fly south (as my Mom used to say). I set my sights on those shrooms (that's what I call mushrooms since it's SO much work to say mush at the beginning...lol) to compliment the equally as gi-gantor pack of boneless pork chops that I bought from them a few weeks back. For those of you of German descent or those that have done a tour in Germany and just couldn't get enough Schnitzel you know where I'm going with this. There was this killer schnitzel place in Germany where we were stationed called (appropriately) the Schnitzelhaus or House of Schnitzel. Oh, the money they made on us...I know they felt a pinch when we left and couldn't show up there 2-3 times a week anymore. What I wouldn't give to go back...(mind fading away here...) So until I can, I was determined to make my own rendition of my favorite jagerschnitzel. It's a creamy sauce with shrooms and onions...oh, the grilled onions...I used to ask for a double portion. I'm guessing by now that it's not hard to figure out that my stumbling block is gluttony :-/  This give you an idea what it would look like before I inhaled a plate of it in Germany...

This particular picture that I found on the Internet is being served up with a side of spatzle. That's yummylicious too but we usually got french fries and an extra side of gravy to dump on them. My taste buds are dancing just thinking about it!!!!!
So here's a small rundown of what I use to make jagerschnitzel...

I'm sure it's not the "right" way but I like this recipe....I don't usually add cornmeal either but sometimes I like to try new things and see what comes of it. I also discovered that I can cut up a whole onion in about 2 minutes.

Yes, I can see that the whole onion is not cut up in the picture but I bet you'll sleep better tonight now that you have seen a half a cut up onion...snort! And, my apologies Kathy B but my favorite knife is my Rachael Ray furi and I don't like using the food chopper for onions. I love to cut food up by hand...there is just something satisfying about it although I do need to work on my technique. Of course the cutting board is all Pampered Chef and I love the grooves and built in rubber thingy on the edge that keeps it from sliding around. No more fumbling for those green things you used to have to put under their boards.Oooops, sorry about the rabbit trail....OK, so I trimmed the fat off my pork, layered saran wrap over it (this minimized clean up from the splatter) and pretend it's someones face that has made me angry pound the snot out of it with a good ol' cast iron skillet.

To answer Kathy B's first question, yes I own the pampered chef meat tenderizer but sometimes I'm going for the gold with the bigger smashing power circumference and noise of the good ol' days. If you want success with this, you must do this on a hard surface and not something that has any give to it. Wow! That's a stress reliever! I dip them in egg, then in flour/cornmeal mixture then pan fry. Keep the cutlets warm in a 200 degree oven while you whip up the gravy. Half way through cooking I had a brainstorm. Let's have fries too. I have potatoes...I swear half my brain power is spent going on rabbit trails...plus I thought I'd give Jennifer an extra carb bonus on her plate tonight. It's a good thing we eat a lot of salads for lunch cuz there were NO veggies in this meal. Woot woot!

Of course I can be satisfied with just cutting the potatoes and throwing them in some oil, I needed to look up a recipe *sigh. The one I found said to soak the potatoes in 2 cups of warm water with (I don't remember how much) sugar for 15 min. Sugar in potatoes...yea baby! Come to Momma! They didn't get the 15 minutes but the 5 that they did get sure made them yum-o! I fried them in peanut oil and topped them off with a sprinkling of sea salt. I felt them go right to my hips but I was too busy plowing them down to care. Here's Jennifer getting to the food before me :-)

This is a girl after my own heart...or I've just spoiled her. Today she said she had ramen noodles too many days in a row and that she was dying for a salad. A trip to Costco's produce section made her day. She stayed up late getting her salad ready for tomorrow. I sat downstairs and blogged this so needless to say I hope I hear the alarm go off in 5/12 hours. I hope this made you hungry and you sleep less too (not really I'm just getting grumpy). Here's the final meal.

I have no idea why there is a shadow in the picture but I was too hungry to mess with it and I went easy on the gravy for the sake of a "pretty" picture but I assure you I went back and loaded up. And homemade fries NEVER hurt my feelings although normally I douse them in malt vinegar. Das it gut!

I end today's blog with my first ever challenge for my BFF and fellow blogger Kelly C. You can find one of her blogs . Cook (or bake) or favorite 4th of July side dish or dessert. Think outside the box...don't give me the proverbial strawberry and blueberry flag cake (unless that's what you REALLY like). Get out your oven mitts girl cuz I'm gonna bring it! Show me what you got!