Month: Jul 2026

Schnitzel

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A long-standing family birthday tradition, this is a labour of love, especially made for large numbers. Known as snitchel by the children, and řízky by my dad. Always made of pork in my family and always cooked in massive excess so there are leftovers for sandwiches and snacking. No amount sorry, this is strictly a case of ‘measure with your heart’.

  • As much pork fillet as you think you can eat – probably a touch more
  • Dried breadcrumbs (or matzo meal)
  • Egg
  • Flour mixed with a bit of garlic powder, paprika, salt and black pepper
  • Butter
  • Veg oil
  1. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and, if you’ve got a lot of pork, cut a few additional pieces so you can layer them up
  2. Cut the pork fillet into 3 cm rounds, then butterfly each one (cut it almost completely in half lengthways and open it out like a book), and bash it out with a big wooden hammer until it’s about ½ to 1 cm thick
  3. Set up your seasoned flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs in separate wide bowls or lipped plates
  4. Dip each schnitzel into flour on both sides, shake it off, then dip into egg on both sides. Gently lift it out, let it drip for a moment, then lay it in the breadcrumbs. Flip it so both sides are covered and then put to one side on the lined tray. Once the tray is covered with a single layer of pork (with minimal overlapping), put a piece of baking paper on top and keep going with single layers of pork and paper until you’ve done it all
  5. Turn the oven on to 75C and get out a wire rack or two
  6. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high and add ~1 tbsp butter and roughly the same amount of oil. Swirl around to mix and coat the pan
  7. Once it’s sizzling, add a couple of pieces of the breadcrumbed pork (don’t crowd the pan). Cook on one side until golden brown, then flip and cook the other side. It’s quick because the pork is so thin, so don’t leave it alone – this is a job which requires your attention. As you go, put the cooked schnitzel onto a wire rack in the oven to keep warm while you cook the rest. Add more butter and oil as you go along, and periodically wipe the pan out so you avoid burnt crumbs.

Serve with boiled, buttery new potatoes, a wedge of lemon (and anchovy fillets if you’re my mum – ew) and plenty of cucumber salad aka okurkový salát

Sunday morning pancacakes

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Our Sunday morning tradition, called pancacakes for at least 9 years due to a pre-school spelling mistake. Medium-healthy, high in protein, so simple there’s no measuring except a spoon. And therefore less washing up. It’s the ideal Sunday morning blurry start while you stand over a pan feeling like you’re doing decent parenting, drinking tea and trying to remember what on earth you’ve committed yourself to today. Makes 5-6 pancakes, enough for 1 hungry teenager or 2 as part of a bigger breakfast.

  • 2 big heaped tbsp plain flour
  • 1 big heaped tbsp ground almonds
  • Pinch of salt
  • ~1 tsp baking powder (the tip of the big spoon)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 heaped tbsp greek yoghurt
  • A smidge of vanilla extract
  • A splosh of milk
  1. Mix the flour, ground almonds, salt and baking powder in one small-ish bowl
  2. Mix the egg, yoghurt, vanilla and milk in another small bowl. No whisk, just spoon
  3. Scrape the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir together – again, just the spoon
  4. The consistency should be thick and spoonable. Adjust if you’re bothered with a bit more flour or a bit more milk, but it’s very forgiving if you have Sunday morning fuzz and you can’t be bothered
  5. Heat a frying pan with a little oil over a high heat (use a wad of 2 kitchen towels to spread it and then keep it to re-oil the pan in between rounds)
  6. Turn the heat down to medium-low and dollop 1 heaped spoonful of mixture per pancake into the pan. My pan fits 3 pancakes at a time
  7. Cook until brown underneath (you can tell from the edges) and then flip and repeat on the other side. If they’re still oozy inside, turn the heat down. If it’s taking forever, turn it up a bit.

Serve them as you make them. Apparently no fruit allowed, only syrup. But you can do what you like. I like a diagonal slice of banana in the pan with mixture added over the top so it becomes embedded in the surface of the pancake. You can also do this with thinly sliced streaky bacon. 5 stars, highly recommend.

Any leftovers (or intentional leftovers if you double the recipe) can go in a tupperware in the fridge and they re-heat excellently in the toaster for weekday morning breakfast when you just can’t face cereal again.