Pork escalope recipe. Video
Escalope is a culinary term that goes back to French cuisine. This is the name of a thin, well-beaten piece of fillet and dishes made from it, prepared by short-term frying in a pan. Initially, escalopes were exclusively veal, but over time, recipes for pork, chicken and turkey escalopes appeared. Pork escalope is a delicate dish, quick to prepare and has dozens of variations.
How to choose pork for escalope
Several cuts of pork are suitable for the escalope. This is, first of all, a tender and almost lean tenderloin – a long muscle from the lumbar part of the animal. From the same place, from the loin, a thick sirloin is taken onto the escalopes, and the fatty boneless loin is also cut off from the back of the carcass.
Good pork should be slightly damp, but never sticky. The color of the meat ranges from pale to deep pink. Free-range farm pork will have a more intense pink color. The texture of the meat should be fine. Small chunks of fat found around the edges of these cuts should be firm and marbled white. The smell of pork is barely perceptible, pleasant. Signs of bad meat – high humidity, stickiness, rainbow film, greenish cut, yellow, dirty fat and unpleasant odor.
If the pork cut smells even a little like vinegar, the meat is stale. The shelf life was extended by wrapping a cloth soaked in diluted acetic acid
Classic Petersburg escalope
The escalope recipe, which for a long time was the benchmark for the pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg restaurant cuisine, is a classic of French cuisine. You will need: – 500 grams of pork tenderloin; – 25 grams of unsalted butter; – salt and freshly ground pepper.
Cut the tenderloin into medallions – transverse round pieces 1-1,5 centimeters wide. Break each medallion with a kitchen hammer to a thickness of 0,5 centimeters. In order not to splash the kitchen surfaces, it is better to beat off the meat by wrapping it with cling film. Melt the butter in a light skillet. Fry the meat over high heat for 2-3 minutes on each side. Season with salt and pepper and place on a serving dish.
Before serving, while you are preparing the sauce, you can put the finished pork in the oven, or you can cover the escalopes with cling foil.
A ready-made classic escalope is a tender piece of meat with edges slightly curved on the sides. It is because of this shape that the dish got its name – in the north-east of France, where the traditional recipe comes from, escalope was called a half of a nutshell or a snail shell.
To make pork escalope with mushroom sauce, take: – 800 grams of pork; – 110 grams of unsalted butter; – 175 ml of heavy cream; – 1 tablespoon of olive oil; – 2 heads of shallots; – 4 juniper berries; – 400 grams of champignons; – 2 tablespoons of sherry; – 1 clove of garlic; – 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley; – salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Slice the pork into medallions and beat them through cling film. Melt 55 grams of butter in a skillet over high heat, mix with olive oil. Season the meat with pepper and salt and fry on both sides for 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter with cooking tongs and cover with cling foil. Peel the shallots, rinse, dry and cut into thin half rings. Also cut the champignons into thin slices.
In the pan where the meat was fried, melt the remaining butter, fry the onions and mushrooms until light golden brown. Crumble the juniper in a mortar and add to the sauce, pour in the sherry. Let the alcohol evaporate, add the minced garlic and pour in the cream. Cook the sauce for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Put the finished escalopes on portioned plates, pour over the sauce and sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley leaves.
Over time, escalope recipes have received many variations and even expanded the boundaries allowed for a given dish. So, the largest Russian culinary theorist, William Pokhlebkin, argued that only fried meat without breading can be called escalope, and in the meantime, in world cuisine, both Viennese escalope and Milanese escalope – thin slices breaded in breadcrumbs have long existed. meat.
The Viennese escalope in Russia is better known as the Viennese schnitzel
For Milanese escalopes, you will need: – 6 pork escalopes; – 2 chicken eggs; – 200 grams of bread crumbs; – 100 grams of finely grated parmesan; – 2 lemons; – 100 grams of unsalted butter; – 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley, basil, dill, sage; – 1 tablespoon of capers; – 1 clove of garlic; – salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Beat the pork. Beat the eggs in a bowl with a fork. Pour bread crumbs on a wide plate, stir with the zest of one lemon, grated Parmesan, season with salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a wide skillet. Dip each piece of meat in a beaten egg and then roll in breadcrumbs. Fry a few escalopes until crispy on both sides. Use a slotted spoon to remove the escalopes from the dishes and place them on a paper towel. Cover the cooked pork with cling foil and make the sauce.
Mix together the finely chopped herbs, capers, lemon zest and lemon juice from the remaining citrus and minced garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Serve escalopes with boiled potatoes and fresh sauce.
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