Day 30: euphonious crunching

Often in cooking, we find recipes that are simple variations on something we’re already familiar with, or at least know that we like just the way they are.

Pork schnitzel is something I love, and I have an equal passion for its chicken-variant: it is something we eat often in the house (I’m talking about the breaded version here) and, indeed, on many trips to Poland when we stay with my mother-in-law. I love it served with sides of minced beetroot (mixed with onion and a little vinegar and sugar), a coleslaw-like salad (with dill and less mayo than regular coleslaw), boiled potatoes with horseradish, butter and more fresh dill and then - of course - a nice sauce (often from a packet, but tweaked and improved to make it saltier).

Even just recollecting this evokes the most wonderful of memories of sitting around the table with family, engaging in joyful conversation, exchanging memories passed, discussing trending family gossip, and - for me anyway - being taught to speak Polish (which is still in progress, before you ask, and currently rather limited to words around food only). Reminiscing and reflecting over food and the memories it summons has a magical, therapeutic quality, and is my main driver for embarking on this journey. I miss the times with my Polish side of the family - I haven’t been to Poland for nearly two years now - and I yearn for the time when it’s safe to travel and see them again; as I’m sure, you are yearning to see yours.

I love to try new things - even variations on old-time favourites. So, when I saw Nigella’s Crunchy Chicken Cutlets as her Recipe of the Day on her social media feed the other week, it prompted me to get the ingredients to have our own little schnitzel supper with some traditional favourites, but with a slight tweak on the breadcrumb coating - using cornflakes. I know this isn’t strictly a schnitzel recipe, but it reminded of the process of making schnitzel anyway: justification, therefore, for my previous ramblings.

Nigella’s Crunchy Chicken Cutlets

I’m no stranger to flattening pork loin steaks or chicken breasts with a meat mallet, but, I realised when I couldn’t find said mallet that I must not have actually made schnitzel for quite some time. After some cacophonous rummaging through the kitchen cupboards, I proceeded to beat the living daylights out of the chicken breasts - with the now-found meat hammer.

What is also different here - to my usual way of making a breaded, flattened chicken breast - is the egg mix used to create that pivotal glue for the crunch to stick to. When I was taught to make schnitzel for the first time by my mother-in-law, I was instructed on the importance of flavouring both the egg and the breadcrumb to ensure it all carries through. Sometimes I use flour too (before the egg dip) and my spice-of-choice is usually a herbed pepper, which I add to all three: the flour, the egg and the crumb, which gives a peppery, almost fried-chicken, spice. Here, though, the recipe calls for dijon mustard and cinnamon - so mustard and cinnamon it is.

The euphonious sound of crunching the cornflakes with your fingers was strangely, yet deeply, satisfying.

Flavour musings

There is definitely unrivalled crunch from using cornflakes, and the use of a generous dollop of dijon mustard provided a very favourable horseradish-like kick, beautifully warmed by the inclusion of cinnamon; it smelled just divine when sizzling away in the pan.

A great dish that provides the perfect outlet for de-stressing, in the making of, and great comfort and pleasure, in the eating of.