Snitel Parizian

“Parisian schnitzel”

I’m not sure when the Romanians started eating schnitzel, but I would imagine that it passed overland by way of the Austro-Hungarian empire into Transylvania and gainrd popularity there. Or maybe the chefs of the more popular Bucharest restaurants recreated it for German and Austrian visitors during the early half of the last century. I have no idea to be honest and some searching on the ‘net threw up no answers. However it arrived here, it is now pretty much a staple of Romanian restaurants across the country and so here I present another version (I made a chicken schnitzel in an earlier blog post) which is cooked in a slightly different way, using a flour and egg batter rather than being dredged in breadcrumbs, a style more commonly associated with the Vienna Schnitzel (snitel vienez).

Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 2 schnitzels

Ingredients:

2 veal cutlets about 15-20mm thick

2 eggs

4 tablespoons of flour

100ml of milk*

Salt and pepper

Oil for frying (can be a mixture of oil and butter for a richer flavour)

Lemon and parsley for garnish

*I’ve seen all sorts of recipes. Some use milk, some use sour cream, some use beer, some just use less flour and nothing else. You decide.

Method:

1. Beat the eggs well and add the flour spoonful by spoonful and mix into a paste. Add the liquid (milk, cream, bread) gradually, beating constantly, until you get a batter consistency which should resemble cream. It should still be liquid but sticky enough to coat the back of a spoon.

2. Season the cutlets with salt and pepper and then, using a meat beater of some description, bash the cutlets until they are about 3mm thick and have doubled in surface area.

3. Pour about 5mm of oil (and butter if using) in a large frying pan and set on a medium-high heat. When it is up to heat, dip the cutlets into the batter, making sure they are well coated, and lay the battered cutlets in the oil (being careful not to splash oil on yourself, of course) and cook, turning once, until golden brown on both sides. The trick here is to get the temperature of the oil just right: not so hot as to burn the batter whilst leaving the meat raw, but not so cool as to make the batter soggy by the time the meat has cooked.

4. When done, remove to a plate covered with kitchen paper and leave to drain for a minute before serving.

Delicious served with potatoes of any variety (mashed, fried, sautéed, new potatoes), with a sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley, a slice of lemon, and a small bowl of ‘mujdei’ (a kind of garlic puree often served in Romania with grilled or fried meat dishes).

Perisoare cu smantana si marar

“Meatballs with sour cream and dill”

Who doesn’t like meatballs? Well, vegetarians, I suppose. These ones are nice and juicy, especially if you can get some good lean cuts of meat and mince it up yourself. Personally I don’t like to use supermarket-bought meat, especially minced meat, which I know from people in the trade is basically just the old stuff they couldn’t sell while it still looked fresh. If you can’t be bothered to buy a meat grinder and mince it up yourself, most butchers will do it for you: that way you get the best of both worlds. I cooked them without the dried mushroom powder in the end as I didn’t have any to hand and couldn’t find it at my local market, but they were still delicious without it.

The recipe comes from Radu Anton Roman’s recipe book in the Moldavian recipe section. He recommends serving it simply with mamaliga (polenta) but as I had just made the polenta cake in the previous recipe, I had it with mashed potato instead.

Time: 90 mins

Servings: 5-6 people

Ingredients:

500g of lean veal

500g of lean pork

300g of bread, crusts removed

100ml of milk

1 medium onion, finely chopped

100g of butter

2 eggs

3 bunches of dill

Salt and pepper for seasoning

½ cup of flour

800ml of sour cream

2 tablespoons of dried mushroom powder*

Method:

1. Mince the meat and put it in a large mixing bowl.

2. Soak the bread in the milk, drain and squeeze out the excess.

3. Melt a knob of the butter in a pan and gently fry the onion until it is translucent and soft, but not burnt.

4. Beat the two eggs.

5. Finely chop the dill.

6. Mix together the minced meat, the bread, the fried onions (pour the melted butter in too), the two eggs, and one third of the dill and season with salt and pepper.

7. On a plate, mix together the flour and another third of the chopped dill.

8. With wet hands, form the meat mixture into walnut-sized balls and roll them in the flour/dill mixture to coat them all over.

9. Melt the rest of the butter in a large frying pan and, in batches if necessary, fry the meatballs until brown all over and hard.

10. Beat the sour cream with two tablespoons of the flour (use any flour that was left over from rolling the meatballs), the rest of the dill, and the dried mushroom powder*.

11. Drain any excess oil/butter off the meatballs and arrange them in a ceramic pot with a lid and pour the sour cream mixture over them.

12. Put the pot in a preheated oven on a low heat until the liquid has reduced by about half.

*I couldn’t find anything like this in the shops and have never seen it in other recipes. I suppose you could buy some dried mushrooms and blitz them up, or perhaps use a little mushroom stock cube. If anyone knows what this is exactly (praf de ciuperci uscate), please leave a comment!

Ciorba de perisoare

"Meatball soup"

This popular soup can be found all over Romania. The recipe below is the southern version, although it is also quite similar to the Transylvanian version. A friend from the Moldovian region of Romania once cooked it for me and I was surprised to find it didn't include the tomatoes and lacked the red colour I had come to associate with the soup, having spent a lot of time in Transylvania. It was also a lot more bitter than I was used to. To my shame, once she'd turned her back, I had to add a squirt of ketchup!

Here's my favourite version of the soup. It is usually served hot with freshly chopped lovage (leustean) on top and some crusty bread. Also, if you like, you can add a spoonful of sour cream (smantana) to your dish in the Transylvanian style. And, of course, it often comes with a hot pepper.

Time: About an hour and a half
Servings: Enough for 3 or 4 bowls, depending on size

Ingredients

For the meatballs:
250g of veal or pork or a mixture of the two according to preference (and budget)
30g of plain flour
30g of rice
1 or 2 egg whites (save the yolks for the soup below)
1 teaspoon of finely chopped or grated onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped dill
Ground black pepper for seasoning

For the soup:
Veal stock (made from veal bone, carrot, parsnip, and celeriac) or a stock cube if you're not into making stock
1 onion
1 litre of 'bors'* (a kind of fermented wheat bran)
2 tomatoes (peeled and chopped, or out of a tin if you like)
1 bell pepper
1 or 2 egg yolks
100ml of sour cream (smantana)
2 litres of water
A bunch of lovage (lustean)

*Bors isn't readily available in the UK - you might find it if you have a local Eastern European grocery store near you - otherwise you can get a similar sourness by using some natural sour yoghurt dilutes in water.
Method

1. If you want to make your own stock, then grate the carrot, parsnip, and celeriac.
2. Bring the water to the boil and add the onion, tomatoes and bell pepper (all grated or very finely chopped) and also the stock vegetables and broken up bones (if making stock) or a stock cube (if not). Add a teaspoon of salt. Leave to simmer for half an hour.
3. Mince up the meat (if you haven't bought ready-minced meat).
4. Rinse the rice and drain.
5. Mix together the minced meat with the teaspoon of chopped or grated onion, the rice, the flour, the egg whites, ground black pepper (to taste), a teaspoon of salt, and the dill.
6. After the half hour is up, remove the bones (if you used them).
7. With your hands moistened with cold water, take chunks of the meat mixture and form them into small balls (something just a little smaller than a golf ball) and put them into the simmering soup.
8. Cover the pan and leave it to gently simmer for another half an hour.
9. Add the bors and boil for 2-3 minutes.
10. Taste it and check the seasoning.
11. Finally, before serving, sprinkle on a generous amount of the chopped lovage, and, if you like, mix together the sour cream and egg yolks and stir it into the soup (or serve in a separate bowl for people to add to taste).

I've seen several variations of this recipe on the internet and some people have cooked it with minced chicken or turkey - an option if you don't eat veal or pork. This soup is definitely my one of favourites, especially the slightly redder Transylvanian version. It's quite refreshing in the summer and also a good winter warmer. Pofta mare!