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Turkey cutlets fly right as 'Sturtzels'

At the grocery store recently, frustrated that I couldn't find any pork tenderloin or ground chicken breast meat without added "natural flavorings" or "enhancing" solutions of water, salt and sodium phosphates, I bought a package of turkey breast cutlets.

I don't know why exactly, but I tend to reserve turkey for holidays and deli meat. I rarely think to buy it fresh, which is a shame because it's really good. And considering it is getting increasingly difficult to find plain, unadulterated meat (even the ground beef has "natural flavors" added) at my neighborhood grocery store I think fresh turkey may become part of my rotation (the current rotation alternates plant-protein days with animal-protein days).

I realize Arkansas-raised beef, pork and poultry products are available without any additives at farmers markets and specialty shops, and I do buy them on occasion, but these products can be expensive and buying them requires planning on my part. Also, when it comes to developing and testing recipes to share, I try to cook with ingredients that are accessible to everyone, and grocery store meat fits that bill.

But back to the turkey cutlets. A few days earlier I had helped my mom sort through some boxes of stuff stored in one of her closets. Inside one of the boxes I found stacks of letters I had written to my parents during the year I studied in Germany. I also found a photo booklet I made for them showing glimpses of my everyday activities. And one of those activities, at least during my first six weeks, was eating schnitzel for lunch.

So you could say I had schnitzel on my mind, and it seemed like the perfect thing to do with the turkey cutlets.

I didn't have all of the necessary ingredients for a traditional schnitzel so I improvised. To emphasize this isn't a true schnitzel, I'm calling it a Sturtzel -- a play on a family name.

Turkey "Sturtzel"

1 egg

2 tablespoons half-and-half

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon almond meal

1 tablespoon wheatgerm

Salt and ground black pepper

1 1/4 pounds turkey breast cutlets

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

In a shallow dish, beat the egg with the half-and-half; set aside.

In a separate shallow dish, combine the flour, almond meal, wheatgerm, salt and pepper; set aside.

Cut the cutlets into similar-size pieces. Pat dry with paper towels.

Heat a large heavy skillet (I used cast iron) over medium heat. Add the butter and olive oil. When the butter is melted and foamy, dip the cutlets in the egg mixture, dredge in the flour mixture and add to the pan. Working in batches, if necessary, fry cutlets, turning once, until golden brown on both sides and internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Drizzle cutlets with lemon juice just before serving.

Makes 4 servings.

Food on 07/08/2015

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