Oink! Oink! Schnitzel!

My next project was "Hearty Pork Pancakes," listed also as "Fleskerpanekakker," in my lil Norwegian cookbook. I realized upon looking in a Scandanavian cookbook, that "Flesker" refers to pork and then... obviously.. panekakker.. is pancakes. Through the friends I've had from Norway, I've learned that so much in our languages are similar. Anyway, this was a very simple recipe that I've been rather curious about. I wasn't even just interested in how it would turn out as much as how it would be to make and eat something that was a very old recipe. This recipe would connect me with thousands of Norwegians from an earlier, simpler, and, as I've learned from my readings, undoubtedly poorer, time.

The pancakes were tastier than I expected, given the ingredients. Rather filling as well! I can imagine them making these. Without the pork and chives, the same recipe is called, "Everyday Pancakes." I can imagine liking those if I didn't have access to any ready-made mixes, especially on long cold winters. Of course otherwise they are pretty dame plain to eat alone, as they did, with pea and ham soup.

The "pork" I used in the pancakes was of course, thick sliced bacon. And, of course, the kiddo ate the bacon out of the pancake and left most of it sitting on her plate. She just has no appreciation for earlier times.... I really enjoyed the experience. She did say she kind of liked them, they just needed more bacon. LOL. Indeed, I thought, maybe next time of cutting the bacon up and distributing them throughout the pancake. Also, making the pancake a bit thinner would probably help. Even so, I still couldn't stomach the idea of serving these pancakes plain with split pea and ham soup, as the cookbook suggests would be fun for a "Saturday Night," as one family back in the day did. Perhaps during a viewing of the Wizard of Oz, we could eat our Wicked-Witch colored soup, and it would seem appropriate.

Schnitzel! For my Fritzel, indeed! My little girl earned the nickname "Fritzel," in her dance group.... Lovely. I haven't gotten to see her dance yet. She has fun, and that's the main reason to be there. The night she had her first performance, at a pep assembly followed by a basketball game, no less... and she was wearing her team shirt with the nickname right on it, I served Schnitzel. It was a recipe that popped up on my Facebook feed under the Food Network's posts. Gil thought it sounded good , too. And so did Mary Esther, my aunt! (SHOUTOUT!) She added that they were originally made with rabbit, were in fact German, and that no, rabbit did not taste gamey, they tasted like chicken. That being said they were made with chicken.

Matt (my husband)really liked it, and of course it being fried, who really wouldn't. The flour was seasoned with nutmeg and paprika, and the breadcrumbs with majoram as well as salt & pepper. Had the nutmeg been fresh ground I truly wonder if the flavor would have been stonger, and , thus, better. Anyway , I will add that it was fairly easy to cook and not bad when you pre mix all the stuff you dip it in before you fry. It helps to use chicken cutlets that are actually 1/8" thick. Oh, and the sauce was good with it and for some reason I felt this meal had a medieval-ness to it. Don't ask me why, cause I don't know. The sauce was made with whole grain mustard mixed with plain yogurt. (Fat Free!) Yay, fat free..... Then also recommended to serve it with is applesauce (which was very good with it) and then I just added green garlic-stuffed olives and blue-cheese stuffed green olives too.

Make it or don't make it, I will probably make it again. My next entry will be about the dishes I have ingredients for, again... Blueberry Baked Pancakes (Pancakes without the work!) , Veggie Dip #1, and Italian Bowtie Pasta . Casserole. (with no meat) Stay tuned! Or should I say stay tuned, vegetarians???