The anything schnitzel

This isn't so much about the recipe - which is still simple and delicious, don't you worry - but more about the way you think about ‘breadcrumbing’.

Sure, who doesn't love a bag of panko for a proper chicken katsu? But I guarantee you'll have plenty of standard household gems you can use to make a cracking schnitzel. Stop buying bags of breadcrumbs and think about popping all sorts of things into the nutribullet instead.

I tend to use any chunk of leftover/stale bread I have knocking around, but one day just before blitzing up some challah I noticed a spot of mould and was forced to improvise. The schnitzel pictured below is made using a blend of cornflakes and shredded wheat, which work a charm since they aren't that sugary or flavoured.

Think anything wheat/corn/rice based that's relatively unsweetened or flavoured…

Fresh bread, stale bread, cornflakes, rice krispies, weetabix, shredded wheat, crackers, rice cakes, corn cakes, tortilla chip crisps, tortilla wraps, plain potato crisps, etc, etc, etc.

You’re looking for around a cup of crumbs (give or take) for the recipe below. For me, that was about one bowl’s worth of cornflakes plus one whole shredded wheat nest. But have a play around and you’ll become familiar with what you’re using.

Serves: 2

Prep time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 15 mins

Method

If you’re making your own breadcrumbs, throw the parmesan, paprika, salt and pepper into the blender with whatever you’re ‘crumbing’ before blitzing. Otherwise, just stir all those ingredients into your breadcrumbs and set aside in a large, shallow bowl.

Carefully butterfly open your chicken breasts (or just ask your butcher to do it for you) before giving them a firm bash with a rolling pin or meat hammer to get them as thin as you can without damaging them. The aim is to make them flat so that each piece cooks evenly, so aim more for the thicker ends.

Get your flour and egg into another two large, shallow bowls (separately!), lightly beat the egg and line up a little production line with the three bowls - flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs and stick a wire rack at the end for your breaded schnitzels to sit on, ready for cooking.

Now for the fun… Take your first piece of chicken, drop it into the flour bowl and dredge it in all the nooks and crannies, patting the flour down and turning over the breast to cover everywhere. Carefully lift it out of the bowl, shake and dust off any excess and then plunge it into the next bowl to cover it in egg. It’s best to try and keep one hand dry at this point if you can. Now lift it out of the egg, again letting any excess drip back into the bowl with a gentle shake before throwing it into the final bowl full of breadcrumbs. This is where you want to make sure you’re really covering the whole piece. Throw the crumbs all over the chicken, coating everywhere you can and using your fingers to press crumbs in any bare patches. Again, as you lift it out, shake off any excess and gently place it on the rack ready to go! Repeat for the next breast.

It may look like there’s not enough egg or crumbs left for the second piece, but there should be more than enough if you get stuck in and toss the chicken around sucking up every last bit in each bowl.

Pour enough oil into a large, heavy based pan for shallow frying. You’re looking for around a 1cm depth of oil so that your schnitzel won’t quite be fully submerged, but more like sitting in the shallow end of the pool with the toddlers.

Turn the hob on to a medium low heat and be patient as it gets to temperature - putting them in oil that’s hot enough will waste all that effort and you’ll end up with greasier schnitzels. It may take up to 5 minutes. Test the oil with anything small like a pinch of your breadcrumbs or a tiny piece of bread. If you get a nice, sizzling bubble immediately, it should be ready.

Cook (one at a time) for around 3 minutes on each side or until the schnitzel is golden, crispy and cooked through. Carefully remove and let it sit on some paper towels to soak up any excess oil and stay crisp.

Serve with some tomato spaghetti, rice and hummus, in a pita with salad… whatever floats your boat.

TIPS

• Turn the heat off and don’t touch the hob or pan until the oil has cooled. It can go into your normal food-waste recycling or simply pour it into a easily sealable bag and into the bin instead of down the drain.

• Prep our schnitzels any time of day in advance and let them sit on a wire rack in the fridge until you’re ready for cooking.

• If you don’t have an easy blender, get creative and use a pestle and mortar to grind out some breadcrumbs. Or two large salad bowls works well, putting your cornflakes (or whatever) into one, putting the other one on top of them and pressing and twisting to crush everything. Your end product doesn’t have to be super-fine.