AUGUST 11 • 2022 | 51

CHICKEN SCHNITZEL WITH LEMON- 
DILL CRACKED MUSTARD SPREAD

Ingredients

SCHNITZEL

2 chicken breasts, medium-sized or larger

1 cup all-purpose flour (more as needed)

3 eggs (more as needed)

1 cup plain breadcrumbs

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

½ tsp. ground white pepper

1 Tbsp. dried marjoram, divided

1 lemon, juiced

Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Vegetable oil

MUSTARD

¼ cup finely ground mustard

¼ cup whole mustard seeds (black or brown, if 

you can get them, or a mix)

2 Tbsp. ground turmeric

1-2 tsp. dried dill weed

¼ cup lemon juice

Cold water (as needed)

Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. Using a long, sharp knife, carefully 
filet the chicken breasts into two thin 
halves; keep your knife parallel to the 
board and draw it through the meat, 
watching to maintain an even cut line. 
Place these halves between two pieces 
of plastic wrap or a cut-open plastic 
bag and use a meat mallet to pound 
them as thin as possible. Make sure 
your mallet strikes are flat and even, 
so you don’t start cutting holes in the 
chicken with the edge of your mallet. 
In traditional schnitzel preparations, the 
goal is to make the surface area as big 
as possible, regardless of the thinness, 
as long as it could still be breaded — 
we’re trying to make our chicken go a 
long way!

2. Lay out the flattened and pounded 
chicken on a piece of parchment or 
a pan or some other place where it 
won’t contaminate the whole kitchen. 
Consider the size of each piece of 
chicken for the next part, where 

you’ll need to bread them. Sprinkle 
the chicken with the lemon juice, just 
enough to get a light coating across 
each piece, then season well with salt 
and black pepper. If you don’t season 
here, the chicken in the middle of the 
schnitzel will be dull and boring, and 
that’s not what you want.

3. Prepare a three-step breading station 
for yourself: Place the flour in a dish 
with 2-inch or higher sides (I love using 
cake pans for this.) Scramble the eggs 
well, add a splash of water and place 
them in another similar dish. Repeat 
with the breadcrumbs. All of these 
dishes should be able to comfortably 
hold one piece of chicken at a time, 
if not more. Season the flour with the 
nutmeg and white pepper, as well as 
a good pinch of salt. Season the eggs 
with a good pinch of salt and a couple 
grinds of black pepper. Repeat the 
same process on the breadcrumbs, 
also adding the dried marjoram. Mix 
everything up well and move it evenly 
across the dish surface. Once again, 
we want to make sure everything 
is properly seasoned, otherwise 
parts of our chicken will be dull and 
underflavored. Arrange your station 
from left to right as follows: Seasoned 
chicken, seasoned flour, seasoned 
eggs, seasoned breadcrumbs. At the 
right end, if you have a sheet pan 
with a rack (or a cookie cooling rack 
sort of situation,) so much the better! 
Otherwise, you’ll need a good place for 

your schnitzel to land safely before you 
cook it.

4. Begin by taking a piece of chicken 
in your left hand and letting any excess 
lemon juice drip off. Your left hand is 
now your “wet hand.” Place the chicken 
carefully into the flour and, using your 
right hand, begin to gently shake the 
pan of flour to coat the chicken with 
the flour. At some point, you’ll use your 
right hand to flip over the chicken piece 
and make sure that all surfaces of it 
are coated evenly with flour. Your right 
hand is now your “dry hand.” Pick up 
the chicken from the flour, shake off 
any excess and then carefully place it 
into the dish with the egg. Agitate with 
your dry hand but use your wet hand 
to touch the chicken once it’s in the 
egg wash. Flip it over, make sure all 
the floured surfaces have been coated 
with egg and then lift the chicken out, 
let the excess egg drip off and place 
it carefully in the breadcrumb dish. 
Agitate the dish with your right hand, 
then use your dry hand to flip the 
chicken over, coat it well and press 
the breadcrumbs into the egg a bit 
to help them stick. Carefully remove 
the chicken from the breadcrumbs, 
shake off any excess and place it on 
the landing spot. Repeat this process 
with all the chicken and see if you can’t 
stack up your work a little to make it 
more efficient: When one piece moves 
into the next dish, everything follows it 

Aaron’s ancestors 
chilling at the park

COURTESY OF AARON EGAN

continued on page 52