The Food Diaries

Wiener Schnitzel Bites

I love Wiener Schnitzel, and nobody does it better than the Viennese: crisp and puffed up breadcrumb coating, thinly pounded meat inside (veal, chicken or pork). They serve them in what looks like a giant portion, accompanied by a salad and buttered boiled new potatoes. Perfect Viennese cafe fare. 

Here’s how I recreated this dish at home, to be served in bite-sized portions at a drinks/buffet party.

Take 4 thin turkey breast escalopes and pound them with a meat cleaver till they are thinned out considerably. You can also substitute with either chicken, veal or pork. Season with sea salt and pepper. Cut into small-ish triangles.

In three separate shallow bowls place a 1/2 cup flour, 2 beaten eggs, and 1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs (either regular or Japanese Panko for a crispier finish). Dip each piece of turkey in flour (shaking off any excess), then in egg (dripping off any excess) and then lightly coating in the breadcrumbs. 

Once all the pieces have been coated heat up a frying pan with a shallow amount of rapeseed oil (for a richer flavour mix in some duck fat with the oil). Fry the pieces in batches on both sides, till golden, adding more oil as needed between batches.

Drain on paper towels and then serve with lemon wedges and a good-quality mayonnaise.

Asian-Austrian Pumpkin Soup

This is an interesting fusion of Austrian and Asian flavours, which work surprisingly well together (courtesy of my Austrian friend Barbara).

Chop up some pumpkin into chunks, place in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Reduce down to a medium heat, add a bay leaf and a few juniper berries and cook till tender. Drain the pumpkin, reserving the cooking liquid for later. Fry an onion in a little olive oil, add the pumpkin pieces and stir around. In a bowl, mix together a selection of the following spices: ground nutmeg and mace, ground coriander and turmeric, ground garlic powder and a little smoked paprika. Add a little water to moisten and stir till it becomes a paste. Add to the pumpkin and stir till well coated in the spice mixture. Add some coconut milk, a vegetable stock cube, and some of the reserved cooking liquid (you can adjust the quantities of these three ingredients as you go along) and cook for a few more minutes. Whizz everything together in a blender, return to the pot to heat through. Season with sea salt and pepper.

Serve with a drizzle of roasted pumpkin seed oil and a glass of Austrian Pinot Noir, such as the lovely Cuvee Reserve Esterhazy.

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