When I’m not cooking I am often singing. I have been working on a rather tricky German aria recently which has had me thinking about German food which has had me thinking about schnitzel and sauerkraut – two well-known German foods.
There 
isn’t a recipe for schnitzel per se in the Edmonds, but on page 160 there is a recipe for Veal or Lamb Cordon Bleu, which it says is a Swiss recipe. I know Switzerland and Germany are not the same but it’s made with schnitzel so I am claiming it.
Now before I tell you how it turned out I have a complaint. I know, I know; it’s not like me to complain, but you know 😀
As I said, the recipe is for Veal or Lamb Cordon Bleu. The first ingredient is beef or lamb schnitzel. I don’t mean to be pedantic, but shouldn’t that be veal or lamb? I mean, doesn’t beef make it beef cordon bleu? This annoys me mainly because I am a horrible, horrible person because I love veal. Veal is awesome and it’s really hard to find in these here parts. So it’s making me pouty. I know veal is *sighs* a baby cow, but there is a difference between veal and beef. I know this is really a non-issue but I have just spent 2 weeks with the flu and I am claiming the right to be grumpy about this.
Moving on…
This is a very non-offensive recipe. It was like making a meat sandwich, crumbing it and then frying it. The end result was nice but not fab, and here is the reason why. The recipe also calls for 4 slices of cheese. Now being a good kiwi girl when someone says cheese in a recipe I automatically think of 1kg blocks of cheddar from the supermarket, and wanting to be faithful to the Edmonds way, that’s what I used – but using cheddar is really, really boring in this recipe. The cheese struggles to compete with the schnitzel, ham and 2 coats of crumb.
I would suggest perhaps trying a gouda or cheese with more “balls” to it. Also, the recipe calls for 1½ cups of breadcrumbs, but since you have to double crumb the schnitzel “sandwiches” there is no way that was going to be enough. Usually I would have used the amount stated and shown you the depressing result but I was really in the mood for good cordon bleu and just doubled the amount, so you should take that into account if you make it.
In summary the recipe was good but would have been way better with a stronger cheese.
Now to the sauerkraut. Okay, I confess I am not a fan of the pickled cabbage delight that is sauerkraut, so instead I made the sweet and sour red cabbage recipe on page 172. This recipe is delicious – it is the perfect balance of sweet and sour and was so simple to make. 
The cabbage was perfect with the cordon bleu. I definitely recommend this recipe and am absolutely going to be making it again soon.
So my German meal may have not been technically German but promise I was thinking about Germany as I was cooking and eating it 🙂
Until next time. Happy cooking 🙂