Robin, Jaeger Schnitzel is one of my little brother's "crave" foods from his time in Germany. At Thanksgiving, he said that he was pretty sure I could figure out how to make it for him. I looked at recipes online until I went cross-eyed, and here's the one that looked best to me. My dad and sister helped me. I didn't expect my sister and BIL (who raise cattle so don't care too much for pork products, and "don't like wine-based sauces") to like it, but they raved... even though they were completely baffled when I threw out the vegetables!

My brother was disappointed because he was craving the greasy spoon restaurant version he had grown to love. So when we got together around Christmas, and both sisters and their families were in town, and I invited an aunt and uncle and several cousins (19 people total) over for "do-overs." I made a quadruple batch per the recipe, but left two pieces out after the initial browning, and tossed them in a store-bought jar of beef gravy simmering with a can of mushrooms, served that to my brother and the fancy version to my family, and everyone was happy. (Hey, the real success in cooking for others comes from giving them what they want, not necessarily from being rigid in one's idea of how they should like it!)

Oh, and as an accompaniment, may I suggest homemade spaetzle (sauteed in butter), green beans with slivered almonds, and either homemade pickled beets or rotkohl?

If you don't have a spaetzle maker, they're stupid cheap. To make spaetzle, combine 2 eggs (lightly beaten), 1/3 cup milk, salt, 1/4 tsp finely ground white pepper, salt to taste, and 1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in 1 1/2 cup flour and let it set for 10 mins while you get a stockpot to boil.

Set your spaetzel-maker on top of the pot, put the batter through with a back and forth motion, let them boil a few minutes, and fish 'em out with a spider. Set them aside... Shortly before serving, sautee the spaetzle in 4 TBSP of butter until you have plenty of golden and brown bits in the mess... Yum!

As an aside, Steve ate at the Ol' Heidelburg frequently when he was in HS/college...

Hey M! So did Steve think it tasted like OH's sauce? That's almost the exact same as Wolfgang Puck's, so I guess I'll try it!

LOL, Robin: He wouldn't know! Whenever Steve goes to a German restaurant, he almost always orders the Rouladen!

When I did my initial search, Wolfgang Puck's was the only other recipe I bothered to bookmark, and I think I decided against it only because the one I chose looked less complex and easier to read...

Robin...here's my translation of the recipe from Marions Kochbuch. There are a couple of things here that may not be clear. The recipe uses a stock powder as well as a dark gravy thickener. I would think that any good stock cube would be okay for the first and although I'm not familiar with N.American gravy thickeners, I know that {{gwi:1476482}} - from England - is one used over here. It thickens and darkens a gravy. So here is the recipe, with a little help from my German DH, Wolf.

JÃGERSCHNITZEL - HUNTER'S CUTLET

1 lb (454 grams)pork schnitzel
2 TBS shortening
fresh ground pepper & salt
1 TBS shortening
1/2 lb button mushrooms - cleaned and sliced
1 tin chanterelles (ready to use)
1/2 onion, minced
1/2 cup water
1 teasp instant stock powder (or 1 stock cube)
2 teasp dark gravy thickener
1 TBS creme fraiche
1 lb french fries (prepare ahead)

Best for schnitzel is a tender pork escalope.

1. Heat 2 TBS shortening in a frying pan and carefully brown schnitzel 3 to 4 minutes per side.
Season with salt and pepper and be careful not to overcook. Remove schnitzel from pan and keep warm.

2. Put chanterelles in a sieve and rinse under running water, letting them drain well.
Heat 1 TBS shortening in the same pan and brown the button mushrooms.
Then add chanterelles to the pan with the mushrooms along with the minced half onion.
Cook until browned.

3. Add water to the pan and season with salt, pepper and instant stock powder.
Let sauce cook then add the dark gravy thickener.

4. Reduce temperature and when the sauce stops bubbling, add the creme fraiche.
Pour sauce over the schnitzel. Serve with crispy french fries.

Translated from Marions Kochbuch
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SharonCb - My notes: I've had this with small pieces of bacon in the gravy and it was wonderful!

Welcome to you both!

I make Hunter Suace from my homemade Brown Sauce (one of the four Mother Sauces). It is so rich and delicious. It takes some time to make your own Brown Sauce but the results are worth it and it can be used to make so many lovley sauce variations in no time flat. I'm never without it.

I saute a diced shallot in butter, add sliced mushrooms and saute until soft but not brown. Add in my brown sauce and a good glug, glug of red wine. Season with fresh pepper and simmer until reduced by 1/3.

.

Beef Stock/Brown Sauce/Demi Glace

For Stock

5 Or 6 Pounds
Of Beef Bones, Veal Bones , Maybe More I buy short ribs when they are marked down. You want bones with some meat on them
2Celery Stalks , Chopped
1 Onion, Chopped
2 Carrots, Chopped

For Brown Sauce
3 carrots chopped
4 celery ribs, chopped
1 Large Onion Or 2 Small, chopped
1cup Butter
1 Cup Flour
3 TBSP tomato paste
12 Cups hot beef stock
herbs, Thyme, Bay Leaf, Parsley

For Demi Glace

2 Tbl Maderia
beef stock equal To The Brown Sauce

For the Beef Broth
Drizzel the bones and veggie with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the veggies and beef bones in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, turn and cook 30 minutes more or until lovely and caramelized.

Place in a large stock pot and cover with 18 cups of cold water. Simmer for 4-6 hours. Strain, place in fridge. In the morning skim off fat.

For the Brown Sauce ( Sauce Espagnole)- one of the four Mother Sauces

Saute mirepoix ( chopped onions, carrots and celery) in butter until the onions are light golden brown. Add tomato paste and continue cooking gently. Make a brown roux over low heat in a heavy pan with 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of flour. When the roux is a hazelnut color, add two thirds of HOT beef broth. (Reserve one third for demi glace), and whisk together. Add the vegetables, as well as a bay leaf, a little thyme and some parsley stems. Simmer the mixture for 2 to 3 hours, skimming off the scum that rises to the surface. Strain it through a fine strainer, and press the mirepoix gently to extract their juices. Chill over night. Skim off fat.

Then, for the demi-glace, add an equal amount of beef or veal stock, bring it to a boil, and simmer until the sauce is reduced by half, again skimming the surface as necessary. Off the heat, add 2 tablespoons Madeira. Freeze in ice cube trays.

Summary of liquid amounts

18 cups water for broth
12 cups broth for Brown Sauce
6 cups broth , plus 6 cups of brown sauce for Demi Glace

Thanks for both of the recipes, they'll get tried out I am certain. :)