February Edition
Israeli-Inspired Schnitzel
Welcome to the February edition of good news and noshes! Who doesn't love a schnitzel dinner?! This recipe combines some of the most flavorful middle-eastern ingredients - za'atar, tahini, and tumeric - to dress-up this traditional Eastern European dish. בטאבון!Ingredients (for two servings):
Veggie of your choice (asparagus or Brussel sprouts recommended)
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 teaspoon lemon juice (juice from ~ 1 lemon)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon maple syrup
Olive oil for frying
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons za’atar
1 large egg lightly beaten
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons paprika
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup cous cous
1 teaspoon turmeric
Cooking instructions:
First roast the veggie of choice; I love a side of Brussel sprouts or asparagus with a meal like this, which can be as simple as seasoning with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasting for 20-30 minutes at 425F
While veggies roast, prepare the tahini sauce. Combine tahini, 1/4 cup olive oil, 5-6 tablespoons of water, lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of maple syrup, whisking the ingredients together until combined
Store mixture in the refrigerator until ready to serve
Prepare schnitzel dredging station by combining flour and za’atar in one bowl, egg and 2 tablespoons of water in a second, and panko, seasoned with salt, pepper, and paprika, in a third
Using a meat pounder, rolling pin, or in my case - your lemon juice squeezer - pound chicken breasts evenly until it’s about 1” - 1 1/2” thick
Fill large pan with 1” worth of olive oil and place over medium heat
Once the oil is hot, dredge chicken in flour mix, then in egg mix, and finally in panko mix, then carefully placing it in pan
Once one side has browned - about 4 minutes - carefully flip to cook the other side
Repeat steps 5 -7 with second chicken breast
Once chicken is done, set aside (if veggies are roasted I like to place it in the warm oven once it’s off so it remains warm for serving)
Prepare cous cous according to the package directions. Add a dash of Tumeric to the pot when you pour in the cous cous for extra flavor and color
Serve the schnitzel over cous cous, adding a generous dollop of tahini sauce on top and garnish with parsley or dill if desired
February good news fix:
An 8-year-old slid his handwritten book onto a library shelf. It now has a years-long waitlist. click HERE for the full article."Dillon Helbig, a second-grader who lives in Idaho, wrote about a Christmas adventure on the pages of a red-cover notebook and illustrated it with colored pencils. When he finished it in mid-December, he decided he wanted to share it with other people...The staff librarians who read Dillon’s book agreed that as informal and unconventional as it was, the book met the selection criteria for the collection in that it was a high-quality story that was fun to read. So, Hartman asked Helbig for permission to tack a bar code onto the book and formally add it to the library’s collection."