By Adam Stewart
From the Newsroom
Last week, I wrote that I developed a sinus infection while I was in Wales with Michelle. As I write this, it is 26 days later, and I am still trying to shake off that sinus infection.
I am seeing improvement after a second visit to the doctor. I’m hopeful that I will be back to full strength by this time next week. This illness has really cut into my energy for much beyond work and necessities. Fortunately, though, I get to tell you about an invigorating kitchen success story.
A couple of weeks ago, we got a good deal on pork tenderloins, so we got two to roast and two to freeze for later. Last Friday, we decided it was time to thaw the two that were frozen and try something other than roasting with one of them. I suggested tenderloin sandwiches—thin cutlets, breaded and pan-fried. They are best known as regional favorites from Indiana and Iowa, where some cooks make comically wide sandwiches from them.
Michelle was willing to try, despite our poor track record with breaded, fried cutlets. We’ve tried several different recipes, but something always went wrong. We couldn’t get the breading to stick and get the crispy texture we wanted. It was never disastrous, but the results were never what we envisioned and not usually worth the cleanup required after pan-frying.
I am happy to report that Friday was different. The breading stuck to the pork, and it turned out crispy instead of soggy.
This isn’t a recipe column—I’ll leave that to Amanda Miller and Lindsey Young—but I want to share what I think the difference-makers were.
We got ourselves a proper meat mallet to pound the cutlets evenly thin, then we used the tenderizer side to give them more texture for the breading to stick to. We also let the cutlets sit for 10 minutes after we breaded them, a tip I found online while looking at variations on the recipe. And we gave the frying oil longer than we thought we needed to get sizzling hot. There was no delay between putting the cutlets in the skillet and the sound of frying.
At last, we had breaded, fried cutlets that lived up to our expectations. We persevered. We didn’t let prior failures stop us from trying and from continuing to learn.
Our technique wasn’t flawless. I momentarily forgot the proper form for placing the cutlets in the skillet and splashed myself and the kitchen floor with a little bit of hot oil. No burns, thankfully, but a painful reminder that ensured I did the rest correctly and an extra bit of mess to clean up after the meal.
The sandwiches were so good that, even before we were done eating, Michelle was looking forward to making chicken parmesan. We agreed, though, that chicken parm will wait until we’ve replaced our non-functional dishwasher.
Adam Stewart is the assistant news editor of The Hutchinson Tribune. He can be reached at adam@hutchtribune.com.