Well, that was the plan when I started dinner, Panko-coated Chicken Schnitzel with a yummy caper sauce. Along side it my favorite potatoes–oven-roasted red potatoes with garlic.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have any capers in the pantry so when the hubby called to say he was stopping at the grocery store on the way home, I figured dinner was saved.   So I set out and photographed the ingredients and started on the chicken.

The meat was nearly finished when the hubs came home, sans the capers. Seems he couldn’t find them and like many males, he didn’t want to ask for help. Instead, he decided they didn’t have them.  Where was he looking?  The spice isle.  Unfortunately, they’re in the pickle/olive isle.  So, since there isn’t really a great substitute for capers, except maybe green olives (which neither of us like), I had to come up with something else, fast.

I grabbed a package of organic mushroom gravy I keep on hand for emergencies and went with a chicken-fried steak instead. Since I show the Schnitzel ingredients I’ll post the recipes side-by-side.

First though, the easiest and most delicious roasted red potatoes. I used organic small red potatoes, washed and cut to bite size pieces.  We’re just the two of us so 8 potatoes was perfect.  Place the pieces into a mixing bowl and add 2 tbls melted butter, 2 tbls good organic olive oil, 1 tbls chopped organic garlic (I buy mine prechopped and I LOVE garlic, you may prefer 1 tsp), and fresh or dried parsley.  Toss to coat evenly and spread on a foil covered baking sheet (to make clean-up easier).  Salt and pepper.

Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes, turn once during cooking time (the size of your chunks will greatly affect the cooking time).

Now for the Schnitzel that morphed into Chicken-fried Steak. They are exactly the same until the last few minutes.  I made them with the Panko Crumbs that I received from Psssst.  I’ve seen recipes that call for them before but never knew what they were.  I assumed they were something weird, after all, they’ll also called Japanese Bread Crumbs.  In my mind they had to be Asian flavored.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.  What they are a bread crumbs made from the soft insides of bread rather than the traditional crusts of bread.  Since I didn’t make a vegetarian version tonight (because I was too lazy to thaw the Quorn fillet ahead of time), I can’t attest to the taste, but I loved the way they fried up and the crunch they provided.  I’ll certainly be trying it on something else that I will eat, soon.

Panko-Coated Chicken Schnitzel	Panko-Coated Chicken-Fried Steak
1/2 cup flour 2 eggs, beaten 2 cups Panko Breadcrumbs 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves pounded to 1/4-inch-thick Salt and freshly ground pepper 1/4 cup olive oil 3 tablespoons butter 2 teaspoons capers 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 tablespoon chopped parsley	1/2 cup flour 2 eggs, beaten 2 cups Panko Breadcrumbs 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves pounded to 1/4-inch-thick Salt and freshly ground pepper 1/4 cup olive oil Your favorite gravy or ketchup
FOR BOTH: Place the breasts inside a gallon freezer bag and pound with a rolling pin.  Set the flour, eggs and Panko in three separate shallow bowls or plates. Season the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in the flour, shaking off any excess, then dip in the eggs, and finally coat thoroughly with the Panko, pressing lightly to adhere. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil.  To the warm oil, add the chicken, and cook over moderately high heat, turning once, until golden and crispy, about 6 minutes.   Don’t turn more than once, your wonderful and crispy coating will fall off.  Transfer the chicken to a paper towel-lined baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, and keep warm.
Caper Sauce: In a small saucepan, melt the butter and cook over moderately high heat until browned and nutty, about 4 minutes. Stir in the capers, lemon juice, and parsley.  Remove from heat and spoon the sauce over the chicken.

It looked fabulous and I served it with peas, salad, and crusty bread. At dinner we talked about the last time we had capers, and he reminded me he didn’t like them. Something tells me he never looked for them. :)

Enjoy!

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DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION – I have a material connection because I received a gift or sample of a product for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was/am not expected to return this item or gift after my review period.

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