Snitel

If I ever want my kids to eat Romanian food, all I have to do is make snitel.  2 weekends ago, a made it for us for the first time and I barely got any dinner - he and the kids ate it quicker than the kids could pronounce it.  Tonight was my turn; I made twice as much, just in case. 

Possibly the easiest meal I will ever make, but also one of the most time consuming.  I don't fry anything ever, so this is something I wont' make frequently (much to everyone else's dismay!), but it is definitely one i will make again.


Snitel de porc

Ingredients:
Pork cutlets
Breadcrumbs
2 eggs
salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika
oil (I use sunflower)

Directions:
Using a mallet, pound pork cutlets as thin as possible, without them falling apart. Set aside
In a bowl, beat eggs with a little water; set aside.
In a shallow bowl or tray, mix breadcrumbs with the spices (to taste).  Set aside.


Assembly line fashion, dip each pork piece in the egg/water mixture, then dredge in breadcrumb mixture.  Set aside on a plate.  I like to have all of mine dredged before frying.

Heat oil over medium heat.  Fry each piece  for 1-2 minutes per side, or until the pork is cooked through.   Drain on paper towels.

Serve with mashed potatoes. 

Chiftelute, take 2

Last night was chiftelute, take 2.  I spent about an hour online looking up different recipes and none of them looked quite right.  Thankfully, as I was just starting, A came home from work early and gave me some pointers.

This time he said I nailed it ♥

Chiftelute cu marinade

Ingredients:
~2 1/4 pounds ground meat (I used half pork and half beef)
1 egg
4T breadcrumbs (plain, unseasoned)
1T dill
1T parsley
2t salt
1t pepper
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
Oil (my personal preference is sunflower)
Flour for dredging

Directions:
Heat oil in a pan.  Saute diced onion until translucent; add garlic and saute 1-2 minutes more, until it is fragrant.

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix the ground meat with the egg, breadcrumbs, spices and onion and garlic by hand.  Shape into balls and flatten into patties.  Dredge each patty in the flour, then fry in oil. Set aside to drain.

For sauce:
In the same pan, heat some more oil and saute another onion (diced) and 2-4 more cloves garlic (diced) as above.  Add to that 28 oz crushed tomatoes, 6 oz tomato paste, 10 oz water and salt and pepper to taste (I used 1t each).  Bring to a simmer and add meat.  Let simmer about half an hour.

Serve over mashed potatoes, and with picked cucumbers.

* Our pickles are homemade quick pickles - cut a cucumber in half, then quarter each half into spears.  Place in a container with equal parts water and vinegar, 1T garlic salt, 1T dill and pickling salt.  Cover and refrigerate.  I made these the night before and they were very strong the following night at dinner time.

The verdict?  Kenna loved it.  Holden ate the potatoes and said the meat was funny (although how he figured that I am not sure since he didn't taste it).  A said it was just right.  This goes into the dinner line up for sure.

Tonight? Romanian schnitzel.  A made it 2 weekends ago and the kids could not get enough of it.  Tonight, it's my turn to attempt it!