Kotlet Schabowy (Polish Breaded Pork Cutlet)

Method

1. Start the potatoes while you prepare everything else: peel them, cut into even 4 cm chunks and put them in a 18 cm pot with the salt and enough cold water to cover by 2 cm. Bring to the boil over high heat, then turn down to medium heat and simmer for 20 min, until a knife slides into the centre without resistance.

   Add in this stepPotatoes 500 gSalt 1½ tsp

   high heat→medium heat

2. Make the mizeria (cucumber salad): slice the cucumber into very thin 2 mm rounds, toss with the salt in a bowl and leave for 10 min. Squeeze out the liquid with your hands, then stir in the sour cream, half the dill, the sugar and the pepper. Keep it in the fridge until serving.

   Add in this stepCucumber 1Salt ½ tspSour cream 5 tbspDill, chopped 1 tbspSugar 1 pinchBlack pepper 0.9 pinch

3. Cut the pork loin into slices about 1.5 cm thick, one per person. Put each slice between two sheets of cling film and pound it with a meat mallet (or the bottom of a heavy pan), working from the centre outwards, until it is evenly 5–6 mm thick. Make small cuts through the fat edge every 3 cm so the cutlet does not curl. Season both sides with the salt and the pepper.

   Add in this stepBoneless pork loin 300 gSalt ½ tspBlack pepper 2⅛ pinch

4. Set up three plates: flour on the first, the egg beaten with the milk on the second, breadcrumbs on the third. Coat each cutlet in flour and shake off the excess, dip it in the egg and let the excess drip off, then press it into the breadcrumbs on both sides. Wash your hands after touching the raw pork.

   Add in this stepPlain flour 3 tbspEggs 1Milk 1 tbspFine dry breadcrumbs 60 g

5. Heat the lard in a frying pan over medium-high heat for about 4 min; the fat should be about 1 cm deep (pan size · number of batches: 26 cm · 1×). It is ready at 170–175 °C, when a breadcrumb dropped in sizzles immediately. Make sure the pan and your hands are dry: water makes hot fat spit.

   Add in this stepLard (or neutral oil) 120 g

   medium-high heat

6. Lay the cutlets in gently, away from you, without crowding. Fry over medium heat for 3 min per side, turning once with a spatula, until the crust is deep golden and the juices run clear (63 °C in the centre if you have a thermometer). Drain on a rack or kitchen paper and fry the next batch the same way. If the fat smokes, take the pan off the heat; never pour water on it.

   medium heat

7. Drain the potatoes, return them to the pot and toss with the butter and the rest of the dill. Serve each cutlet hot with the potatoes and the cold mizeria.

   Add in this stepButter 15 gDill, chopped 1 tbsp