My mother once again waved her magical home cooking wand and whipped up another family feast for us to enjoy this evening. Stacks of Veal Schnitzel, Creamed Potatoes and Crunchy Cabbage and Cos Salad filled our bellies to the brim. 

This is the sort of meal I enjoyed eating regularly as a child growing up with my brothers in Perth. Even when our neighbourhood and school friends dropped by, my mother always had ample quantities of food ready to serve up. It was always snaffled down in record time before we headed off on our bicycles, skateboards and roller skates. In fact, the only reason we came into the house on weekends and school holidays was to eat, down a cold glass of water or grab a wedge of watermelon. 

My mother still never does anything by halves and so there were enough schnitzels left to include in my children’s lunch boxes for school tomorrow with sticks of crisp cucumber, seasonal fruit, crackers and Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate sent over from Perth by their Great Grandfather Milan. 

The recipe for My Mother’s Creamed Potatoes is the same as the one I posted on the 13th June. As for the Crunchy Cabbage and Cos Salad, this colourful side dish was made by combining thickly sliced ribbons of baby cos lettuce with half a small purple cabbage. A light dressing of half a tablespoon of Cobram Estate extra virgin olive oil, sea salt to taste, half a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and also honey, only just coated the salad, allowing the flavours of each vegetable to really be appreciated. 

When I asked my mother for her secret to crisp, light schnitzels with a slightly puffy thin crust, she said there was “really nothing to it” and all she had used for 1.5 kilograms of veal were 5 large organic eggs, 2 teaspoons sea salt, plain flour and “ordinary breadcrumbs”, meaning commercially made breadcrumbs available from major supermarkets. 

Mum dipped each slice of veal in plain flour, then beaten seasoned egg and finally breadcrumbs, giving each piece a gentle press between her palms. The schnitzels were placed in a wide shallow fry pan with oil heated over a medium setting. It is important not to crowd the schnitzels otherwise they will stew and not cook properly. If cooking a large batch, it is best to use two fry pans.

Although Mum and I are advocates of using Australian olive oil as our preferred cooking oil, Mum insists on using sunflower oil to pan fry her schnitzels, because this gives a crisp, non-greasy and golden puffy-surfaced result.  

Mum then adopted a serious expression and emphasised the importance of using top quality, evenly sliced meat – in this case veal – or chicken to start with. The veal came from Chilcott’s Butchery and was pink, tasty and tender to the point where even my six year old daughter was able to slice effortlessly through her schnitzel.