Czech Recipes: Pork Schnitzel -- or Portobello Schnitzel -- Portobello Hamburgers

Ingredients --  (Mushroom version is Ovo-Lacto Vegetarian)
I consider Portobello mushrooms to be like a "vegetarian steak".  Here's a recipe that I use to make them as a hamburger substitute, or a main-dish meat substitute.
This Pork recipe is mainly here to remind me how to make breaded items such as meats (or maybe tempura), which I often have trouble with.  Wanting to offer a Czech dinner to a vegetarian friend, I decided to try it with portobello mushrooms too.  It worked well.

Pork Schnitzel:
 The main thing I didn't understand about breading meats was that it really need three layers.  Your meat should be dry, and then coated in dry fine white flour; then dipped into egg, then the wet cutlet dipped into an exterior breading.  The egg needs the underlying layer of flour to stick to the meat, and then the exterior breading needs the egg to stick.

Place your raw pork cutlets on a cutting board and pound them gently.  Some recipes suggest to put plastic wrap around both sides of the cutlets;  you can use a meat tenderizer to pound them, or some other heavy object.  They don't need much pounding or tenderization -- too much, and you'll break the meat apart.  But the cutlets should become thinner, and larger around.  Thin slices (but not broken) are the best schnitzel.

Place the first 1/2 cup of dry white flour into a large ziploc bag.  Put the beaten egg and the exterior breading into separate, large bowls.  For each cutlet -- allow to air dry, and pat them gently with paper towels.  Place each cutlet (one at a time) into the bag with the flour and shake it to coat.  Dredge each flour-coated cutlet in the egg first, and then in the exterior breading.  One beaten egg would typically be sufficient for 8+ cutlets.  Do not re-use the flour or breading for anything besides more schnitzel.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Lay each cutlet into a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper.  Bake the cutlets for 25 minutes, flipping them in the middle.  The breading should be golden brown but not burnt.

Thinly sliced cuts of chicken or beef could also be made into schnitzel.  The cooking time may vary -- chicken should be cooked at 425 for 20 minutes+, or beef should be cooked around 400 for 30 minutes+.
Goes well with Czech dill sauce. 


Portobello Schnitzel:

Using the above recipe, substitute large whole Portobello mushroom caps for the pork cutlets.  These should not be pounded.  Clean them and trim out the undesirable part of the stem. 
As noted, dry them as much as possible after washing -- dredge them through dry flower, dip them in beaten egg, then dredge them through flour again (the final flour coating can be dry flour, panko, seasoned breadcrumbs, or alternative flour such as almond flour or quinoa flour).  Set the schnitzel pieces on a baking pan lined with parchment paper, but these schnitzel need not be cooked quite as long as the pork.  Try 375 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes.



Portobello Hamburgers or meat substitute: (camping friendly recipe)

As above, clean the Portobello caps and trim out the undesirable part of the stem.   Place each cap, one at a time, in the center of a square of tinfoil that is at least roughly 10x10.  Drizzle a little bit of oil over it (preferably sesame oil, but butter or other oils will do).  Sprinkle with seasonings including garlic powder, chives, seasoned salt to taste.  Fold the tinfoil around the mushroom and seal off the packet well.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place the packets, seal side up, on a baking sheet into the oven.  Bake for 20 minutes.  If camping, (be sure the packets remain cold to preserve their freshness & suitability).  The packets can be placed at the edges of a campfire for around 20 minutes, test the mushrooms to see if they're done.
When done, open carefully -- hot oil and liquid will spill out of the packet.  This liquid contains the flavor of the mushrooms and spices, and can be used as part of a sauce or gravy if desired.  The mushroom should be soft and floppy, but it should not be fragile (if so, then it's over-cooked, which doesn't affect the flavor but it affects the texture).  It should hold together well enough to use as a hamburger patty (for vegetarian burgers), or it can be served as if it was a cut of meat.