nutty chicken cutlets

Chicken Schnitzel is a modern day Shabbat classic. Done right, what’s not to love?

Here, a crunchy, nutty crust gives the cutlets an unexpected and delicious twist.

When I first started making these cutlets, I used whole nuts and finely ground each type in the food processor, stopping just before they turned to paste. Now, nut meals, also called nut flours, are easily purchased. Prepping them has become a quick and simple affair.

If your local market doesn’t carry them, you can find hazelnut meal, pecan meal, and natural almond meal at Amazon. (For this application, natural—not blanched—almond meal is better than fine white almond flour.)

Some people bake breaded cutlets, but I prefer frying to get that crisp crust and juicy interior. If your oil is hot, the chicken won’t absorb much of it.

For six servings:

Ingredients:

6 chicken breast halves, pounded thin

flour for dredging

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 eggs

the juice of half a lemon

⅔ cup pecan meal

⅔ cup hazelnut meal

⅔ cup natural almond meal

1 cup coarse bread crumbs

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon dry mustard

neutral oil for frying, such as avocado

freshly snipped herbs or micro greens for garnish

lemon wedges for serving

Method:

• Have ready 2 flat plates, a baking sheet, and a pie plate or something similar.

• Pour some flour into one of the flat plates and mix in the garlic powder. (fresh garlic doesn’t really work here)

• In the other flat plate, combine the nut meals with the bread crumbs, salt, nutmeg, and mustard powder.

• In the pie plate, beat the eggs with the lemon juice

• For the chicken cutlets: dredge them in flour all over, shaking off the excess, then dip them in the egg. Make sure the whole thing is covered in egg or the breading won’t stick. Let the excess drip off back into the dish. Then, coat the cutlet in the nut mixture, pressing to make sure the coating sticks. Set the cutlet on the baking sheet.

• Slide the pan into the fridge and let the cutlets chill for at least an hour.

• Turn the oven to 200°. Set a baking pan fitted with a wire rack into the oven.

• Pour some oil into a skillet and heat the pan over medium/high heat, until a small piece of bread dropped in sizzles.

• Lay the cutlets in the oil—as many as will fit without overcrowding, and fry them over medium/high heat until golden and crispy. Then turn them over and do the same to the other side. They take very little time; no more than three minutes per side. You want to cook them fairly quickly if they’ve been pounded thin, so that the meat stays juicy while the coating crisps. (Because dry chicken breast is awful!)

• When done on both sides, transfer the cutlets to the rack in the oven to keep them warm. (The rack will allow the air to circulate, keeping them crispy.)

• Repeat until all the cutlets are fried.

• Serve garnished with fresh snipped herbs or micro greens, with lemon wedges.

Did you make it? Was it fabulous?