Panko-crumbed pork schnitzel with red cabbage

Tamara West

Satisfaction is guaranteed with this Monday night pork.

Red cabbage

2 Tbsp	Water
½	Red cabbages, small, finely sliced and washed (Main)
1 Tbsp	Soft brown sugar
1	Granny Smith apple, peeled and sliced
2 Tbsp	Apple cider vinegar
25 g	Butter
1 tsp	Caraway seed, optional

Panko-crumbed schnitzel

8 pieces	Pork schnitzels, I used Perfect Pork schnitzel* (Main)
½ cup	Plain flour
1	Egg, lightly beaten with 2 Tbsp milk
1 ½ cups	Panko breadcrumbs
1 to fry	Oil

Directions

Red cabbage

1. Heat the oven to 170C.
2. Place water, red cabbage, sugar and a good pinch of salt in a casserole dish. Add the apple and cover with a piece of baking paper, pushing down to cover the apple. Cover with the lid and place in the oven for 45 minutes.
3. Remove from the oven and add the vinegar, butter and caraway seeds, if using. Toss to combine then replace paper and lid and cook for a further 15 minutes until the red cabbage is completely tender.

Panko-crumbled schnitzel

1. Use kitchen scissors to make a few small cuts around the edge of each piece of schnitzel (this will keep them flat during pan-frying). If some pieces of schnitzel are a little too thick you can place between 2 sheets of baking paper then quickly pound them with a meat mallet, rolling pin or the base of a heavy saucepan to flatten them a little more.
2. Place the flour, the egg mixture and the panko breadcrumbs in separate shallow bowls.
3. Dredge a piece of schnitzel in the flour, shaking off the excess. Dip in the egg mixture making sure it is well coated then allow any excess to drip off.
4. Place into the breadcrumbs and pat down on each side until well coated. Place on a large plate or baking tray and coat remaining pieces of schnitzel.
5. Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat then add enough oil to well cover the base. Once the oil is hot, add the schnitzel pieces and pan-fry for 2 minutes on each side. Fry in 2 batches if necessary so not to overcrowd the frying pan. Drain on kitchen paper and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
6. Serve with the red cabbage, mashed potato and a simple sauce of melted butter to which you have added plenty of chopped fresh parsley.

*Perfect Pork: For this recipe I used a pack of Perfect Pork schnitzel, which is grain-fed Canterbury pork. There are 7 pieces of pork schnitzel per pack, but you could easily eat 2 pieces so you may need to buy another pack to serve 4. Freeze any remaining schnitzel for another time or cut into thin strips for a stir-fry on Tuesday night.