Chicken Schnitzel and bubbalas.

I'm not going to lie, I love chicken.  In fact my chicken addiction is probably the only thing keeping me from turning completely vegetarian.

This is one of my favourite recipies.  It reminds me of my childhood Saturday family meals at my Grandma Hilda's flat.

That woman was a marvel.  It didn't seem to matter how many people needed feeding, she would fit them all in, providing a full roast meal of lamb, a tasty spicy chicken paprika, roast chicken, or schnitzel.

The meal would always start with chicken soup and Kneidlach and usually end with orange jelly and icecream.

There are a couple of staunch vegetarian friends who would regularly let it go for a day just to eat my grandma's chicken soup, rationalising that there were no pieces of chicken in it, so technically it was vegetarian.  I remember seeing her biggest pot bubbing gently on her tiny electric stove with the occasional chicken foot appearing on the surface.  Even as a child, this was not enough to put me off this treat. 

Anyway, enough on that.  I promise to share that recipe one day, when I manage to pursuade myself to give that gold away for free!

This recipe is for bog standard schnitzel.  I use whatever chicken I can get hold of, but I prefer breast pieces for this as they are less fussy to eat and leave no bones or waste, but I only use them when, like today, I find a pile of reduced meat at the local supermarket.

We all know how to coat chicken (don't we?) but I will spell it out in case.

Well seasoned flour

Eggs also seasoned

Matzo meal ( or breadcrumbs from the supermarket)  I import my matzo meal into Wales from London through the good will of visiting relatives who understand the need for authenticity in this recipe for me.

Anyway, dip the chicken pieces in flour, then egg, the meal.  Fry off and then eat!

What I want to talk about now is what my grandma used to call bubbalas.  They are essentially a by product of making schintzel and came about because of the impulse not to waste anything.

So what you have after you finish making schnitzel, are essentially three very messy gummy dishes with a varying mix of left over parts.

What you need to do is take your egg dish and double the quantity with cold water.  Then add in enough flour to make it like a double cream texture, or a thin batter.  Then  pile in your matzo meal until you have a mix that is too sticky to handle, but holds a peak shape.

Now wait.  5 mins is all it needs to solid up a bit.  Don't worrry if it is still sticky at the end of this waiting period.  The stickier they are, the lighter the end product will be.

Spoon out into your frying oil (deep or shallow) and cook off for around 5 mins for dessert spoon sized lumps.

Put out onto kitchen towel and call the hungry masses.  Serve with yoghurt style dip to cut the fattiness, or sweet chilli has also worked in the past.  Although I love them with a squeeze of lemon juice and that is all. These bready/doughy goodies are so satisfying and mean that you will never again waste left-overs from coating meat or veg.  That's waht it's all about.  Hell Yes!!

Bubbalas

Schnitzel