Wiener Schnitzel

• 2 boneless pork cutlets, each about 0.5" thick or slightly less
• 0.25 cup flour
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 0.75 cups breadcrumbs
• 2 oz. butter (OK, lard is traditional, but butter works really well)
• 1 tsp. sea salt or kosher salt
• 0.5 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lemon, halved

The two things key to making this dish a success are to keep the breadcrumbs dry (so flour the cutlets well and don't press the breadcrumbs into the meat) and to have the cutlets float in the buttter (use too much rather than too little) so that they cook evenly.

Pound the cutlets until they measure roughly 7–10" and are very thin, about 0.125" thick. It takes about 4 minutes per cutlet to accomplish this—please don't skimp on this. The cutlets can be pounded the day before and wrapped in plastic until you're ready to cook.

Place a serving platter in your oven and turn it on low to warm up.

From left to right, put the flour on a plate and add a little salt, put the beaten egg in a shallow bowl, and spread the breadcrumbs on another plate.

In a large frying pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. While it is melting, dip each side of one cutlet into the flour, then the egg, and finally lay it in the breadcrumbs (but do not press it in there), then turn and coat the other side. Sprinkle it with a little salt and pepper.

If your pan is large enough, repeat with a second cutlet. When the butter foams, put the breaded cutlets into the hot butter.

When the crust is golden brown, about 2 minutes, turn and repeat on the other side for 1–2 minutes. Remove and place on the warm platter in the oven. If there wasn't room in the skillet for the second cutlet, repeat, adding more butter if needed.

Serve hot, along with half a lemon on each plate and a green salad on the side (oh all right, you can have fries, mash, or roast potatoes if you want!).