Chef's notes:
As far I know, which may or may not be that far, “jaeger schnitzel” is breading-less, pan-fried pork cutlets topped with a creamy mushroom sauce. The Internet swells with many diverse recipes for this dish, all claiming to be the most authentic. So it may be hard to come to a consensus on which one really is. But my first head chef job was at a German immersion camp, so I am fairly confident that my recipe is accurate, by which I mean that I know several Germans that would agree with my version. We actually made schweineschnitzel much more often than any other type of schnitzel. Kids like pork better than they like veal. Well, at least as far they know. Which is, yep, you guessed it, also not very far.
Ingredients
- 2 pork tenderloins
- 4 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp seasoning salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
Jaeger Schnitzel Recipe: Pork Tenderloin Cutlets Pan Fried in Butter and Topped with a Creamy Mushroom Sauce
- Cut up the pork into cutlets. The easiest cut of pork to make this dish with would be a pork loin. Then you can slice it and pound the cutlets thin with a meat hammer. Or you could pick up some pork tenderloin, cut them into one-inch cutlets, and lightly pound them to about half-inch thickness. I think the pork tenderloin cutlets look and taste better.
- Prep the other ingredients. Prepare all the other ingredients for the mushroom sauce. Then mix up the flour dredge for the pork cutlets. You will want to dredge them in this mixture shortly before you fry the cutlets in butter.
- Fry the pork cutlets in a little butter. Heat up a heavy-bottomed frying pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Melt 3‒4 tablespoons of butter in the bottom. Once the butter is melted and hot, start frying the pork cutlets in batches. Cook the cutlets until they are dark golden brown on each side and then remove to a side plate.
- Make the mushroom gravy. Add a couple more tablespoons of butter to the pan and start frying the onions. Once they begin to look soft and mushy, add the mushrooms, toss, and put the lid on to sweat them for a few minutes. Then add the stock and wine and reduce the liquid by half, with the lid off. Then add the cream and mustard and reduce by half again or until thickened.
- Add the cutlets back to the pan. Once the gravy/sauce is ready to go, add the minced herbs and taste to adjust salt levels. Then add the pork cutlets back to the pan, put the lid on, and let the pork cutlets reheat in the sauce for 3‒4 minutes. Then remove the pan from the heat and serve with white rice or potatoes.
Tips & Tricks
- The pork tenderloin cutlets won’t need to be pounded very hard with the meat hammer in order to flatten out. You could almost flatten them with the palm of your hand.
- Fry the pork cutlets in olive oil or vegetable oil if you prefer.
- Use a dry white wine like certain chardonnays, or better yet, a sauvignon blanc. If you like a sweeter tasting sauce, use a Riesling.
- When you are deglazing the pan with the wine and stock, make sure to scrape at the fond (the stuff stuck to the bottom). This stuff makes the sauce taste awesome.
Mushroom sauce recipe
- 1 onion, minced
- 10 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 3 Tbsp butter
- ¾ cup chicken stock
- ¾ cup dry white wine
- ¾ cup cream
- 2 tsp mustard
- 1 tsp thyme, minced
- 2 tsp parsley, minced
- Salt
