Pork Schnitzel with Lemon Caper Butter

My husband and I have been obsessed with capers lately! I've been using them in sauces for seafood, putting them in Caesar salad dressings and most recently in a sauce for sauteed pork tenderloin medallions.

This is a very tasty recipe that I found in our local newspaper. It had achieved the recognition of being one of the top 25 recipes that the newspaper had tested and reviewed in 2011. It's an adaptation of a recipe from the Gourmet Today cookbook.

Since pork tenderloin is our favorite cut of pork, I'm always looking for new ways to serve it. This was...delicious! The salty flavor of the capers pairs so well with the breaded schnitzel. It was also a fairly easy dinner to put together and the cooking time is quick. I served it with a simple salad on the side.

Enjoy!

Pork Schnitzel with Lemon Caper Butter

Adapted from Gourmet Today
Printable Recipe

Note: I cut the recipe in half and only used 1 egg

Makes 4 servings

1 ½ pounds pork tenderloin, slice into 1-inch-thick rounds

6 tablespoons cup unsalted butter (divided in half)
3 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and patted dry
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 eggs
1 ½ cups fine dry bread crumbs

6 tablespoons vegetable oil (about) (divided)

Garnish:
1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Lemon wedges

Line 1 baking sheet with waxed paper and another baking sheet with paper toweling.

Pound pork tenderloin rounds between two sheets of plastic wrap to ¼-inch thickness. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking sheet with wax paper.

In a small saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons butter. Stir in capers, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Remove from heat and cover loosely to keep warm.

Pat pork rounds dry and season with salt and pepper. In a shallow bowl or pie plate, beat eggs with ¼ teaspoon salt. Put bread crumbs in another pie plate or shallow bowl. Dip pork rounds in egg mixture, one at a time, allowing excess to drip off, then dredge in bread crumbs and place on wax-paper-lined baking sheet.

In a non-stick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil with 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat until foam subsides. Add 2 to 3 pieces of pork, without crowding meat, and cook, turning once, until golden and just cooked through, about 1 minute per side. Transfer cooked rounds to paper-towel-lined baking sheet and keep warm in preheated oven.

Cook remaining pork pieces in the same way, adding 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter for each batch.

Serve pork drizzled with caper butter and sprinkled with parsley and lemon wedges on the side.

Espresso Steak Rub

Gone with a Handsomer Man is Michael Lee West's new novel. I received my copy last week and quickly finished it! What a fun read filled with humor, love, death and southern intrigue! I loved Michael Lee's writing and the character she created in Teeny Templeton. Teeny is quite the little lady! A strong-willed spitfire with a strong, peach throwing arm, but with so much vulnerability.

Like, Teeny, I think there is something cathartic about cooking and baking.  Just look at the beautiful colors of the ingredients for the rub!

Teeny's espresso rub reminds me her, sweet and spicy.

The steak and rub recipe from the book were delicious! I served the espresso-rubbed, grilled steak with some browned potatoes, onions and parsley and a side of sauteed asparagus and sesame seeds. My husband grilled the steak to medium-rare perfection.

I'm joining Michael Lee West and her foodie friends at Designs by Gollum by sharing some of Teeny Templeton's favorite recipes from the novel Gone with a Handsomer Man. 

Espresso Steak Rub

Adapted from Gone with a Handsomer Man

3 tablespoons espresso beans, freshly ground
1-1/2 teaspoons sea salt
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground pepper
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ginger
2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika

Mix together all ingredients. Brush steaks with extra virgin olive oil and dredge in rub. Grill to your favorite temperature.

Yield: Coats two steaks

Varkeshaas - Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Cream Sauce

I've been making this recipe for a number of years and every time I serve it to guests I am inevitably asked for the recipe.  It's my all-time favorite pork tenderloin preparation!

The pork tenderloin is first seared on top of the stove and then finished in the oven.  A delicious, light cream sauce with shallots, herbs and wine is then prepared in the searing pan to deglaze all the delicious browned bits.

You can see how juicy and tender it turns out made this way!

To mince the shallots for the sauce, I use one of my favorite kitchen gadgets, a Microplane. I have three different sizes and I use them all the time!

I served the pork with steamed spinach and pureed sweet potatoes but it would also taste wonderful with oven-roasted potatoes and root vegetables or mashed potatoes or celery root and Brussels sprouts. 

Varkenshaas (Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Cream Sauce)

Adapted from La Petite Restaurant, Anacortes, Washington
and found on Epicurious
Printable Recipe

Serves 4

Even if you halve this recipe, you may wish to keep the sauce proportions the same, it is that good!

2 pork tenderloins (1 1/2 pounds total), trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon minced shallot
1/4 cup dry white wine (always Chardonnay in our home)
2/3 cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2/3 cup heavy cream (I have used lighter cream and even fat free versions successfully)
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

Garnish: 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh chives

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Pat pork dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. In a heavy saute pan large enough to hold the tenderloins without crowding, heat the oil and 4 tablespoons butter over medium high heat until sizzling (be careful not to burn the butter), brown pork on all sides, turning occasionally, for 10 minutes. Transfer pork to a shallow baking dish and roast in the preheated oven until a meat thermometer registers 155° F. for barely pink meat, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the remaining tablespoon of butter and shallot to the same saute pan used to brown the meat, and cook over medium heat until softened. Add wine, broth, and mustard ,scraping up any browned bits, and simmer until reduced by almost half. Add the heavy or light cream along with the chopped basil and simmer until thickened. Stir in the chopped parsley and add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.

Cut pork into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Pour sauce over pork and garnish with chives.

Grilled Rack of Veal

Another Goumet Group recipe winner!  This grilled rack of veal was the main course of the dinner party we recently hosted.  We always host our group in the summer and we usually choose something on the grill.  We love to make the most of our short summer season and there is nothing like dining al fresco on a warm, starry night.

This year, I wanted to serve something different. We've done many various on the steak before. After previewing all the new grilling cookbooks, I found a recipe in Serious BBQ by Adam Perry Lang that really caught my eye called "Very French Rack of Veal".  I knew that veal would be expensive and I also knew that I wanted to be serve humanely treated veal.  I was so happy to find that my local meat market only sells Strauss Veal which is humanely raised.

I did my due-diligence and searched the internet for rack of veal recipes to make sure we would cook it for the right amount of time.  We didn't want to make a mistake with an expensive cut of meat.  That lead me to this video.  I actually combined parts of both recipes in my final adaptation.  One thing that is absolutely necessary for this recipe is a digital thermometer with an alarm.  The veal was done to a perfect temperature.  The seasoning paste, glaze and finishing dressing make this an outstanding recipe!

Soooo, how much veal would I need for 10 people?  Exactly two, 6-bone racks of veal in order to get the best price and a healthy portion of leftovers for me and hubby since we knew we'd be too tired to cook for the next couple of days. If you look at the grill photo at the top, you will see the two racks of veal standing up side-by-side with the Frenched rib bones interlocked as they started cooking on our gas grill.

The end result was superb!  Tender, delicious veal with so much flavor that I will most definitely make this again for a special occasion.

Grilled Rack of Veal

Adapted from both Serious BBQ by Adam Perry Lang and this video by Barbecues Galore
Printable Recipe

Serves 10

Two 5-bone racks of veal, bones Frenched and the racks tied, each about 4-1/2 to 5 pounds
Several large onions, quartered.

Seasoning Paste:

1 tablespoon crushed hot red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons boiling water
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup Dijon mustard
¼ cup thinly sliced garlic
2 tablespoons firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
2 tablespoons thyme leaves
2 tablespoons sage, cut in chiffonade
2 tablespoons coarsely ground fresh black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic salt

Glaze:

1/2 cup honey
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Finishing Dressing:

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, halved, and seeds removed
¼ cup finely chopped chives
¼ cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Fleur de sel
Finely ground fresh black pepper

1. Place the pepper flakes in a small bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Let sit for 1 to 2 minutes to rehydrate the flakes. Combine all of the seasoning paste ingredients, including the pepper flakes and the soaking water.

Lay out a triple layer of plastic wrap that will be large enough to completely wrap one of the racks.

Place the first rack on the plastic and rub half of the seasoning blend on all sides of the meat. Wrap completely in the plastic wrap. Lay out a triple layer of plastic wrap and repeat with the second rack and the remaining seasoning paste. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours, or up to 8. Take the racks out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking time.

2. Place the glaze ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake to combine. Set aside.

3. Prepare the roasting pan. Place a rack inside a shallow roasting pan. Place the quartered onions along the sides of the roasting pan outside the rack and then fill the pan with water up to the bottom of the rack so that the water will not touch the meat.

4. Unwrap the racks of veal and place in the prepared roasting pan bottom-sides facing each other with the rib bones upward, standing them up much as possible. Interlock the rib bones so that the roast will cook uniformly. Place a digital, remote temperature probe inside the thickest part of the meat in one of the veal racks, being careful not to touch the bones. Set the alarm to go off at 125 degrees.

5. Preheat the gas grill to 450 degrees and place the roasting pan with the racks of veal inside the grill along with a box of hickory hardwood chips and close the lid. Allow to cook for 10 minutes. Then, turn off the two center burners and reduce the heat to 300 and continue to cook with the lid closed until the internal temperature reaches 125 degrees (in about 1 to 1-1/2 hours)

6. Remove the racks from the grill keeping the temperature probe in one of the veal racks (you don't want the juices running out!). Increase the temperature to 350 degrees. Give the glaze a shake to reincorporate any ingredients that may have settled.

7. Place directly on the grill and baste with the glaze. Cook until the racks reach desired doneness, turning over and basting again once. Be careful that the glaze does not make the grill flare up, having a spray bottle of water to put of the flames if it does. Take off the grill when the meat reaches 140 degrees.

8. Place the meat onto a shallow baking pan and cover loosely with foil. Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes, then carve parallel to the bones into chops. Place the meat onto a serving platter and drizzle with the olive oil and lemon juice finishing dressing and sprinkle the chives, parsley, fleur de sel, and pepper over the top, tossing lightly, if necessary. Season with fleur de sel and pepper.