Sunday lunch, Croatian style - POHANI ŠNICLEKI + RIZZAY BUSAY

With a mostly Austro - Hungarian influence, to me this dish holds the ULTIMATE comfort of Sunday. Fried schnitzels (Pohano literally translates to "fried in a classic flour/egg/breadcrumbs Pane"), with rice and peas (Rizi Bizi because the rice is busy with the peas, right?) plus a homemade Tartar sauce to accompany the crispy texture of the meat.

A classic protein and carb combo that any Croatian mom will serve you for lunch.

Want it more carby? Add mashed potatoes instead of the rice, and then prepare to lay in bed all day. That's what Sundays are made for anyway, right?

Usually, the meat which is used is either veal, or pork. I'm using chicken today, since that's what I could find. The idea is to have a thin, crispy fried cutlet of meat.

Regarding the rice, you can go two ways. You can either use normal rice, and cook it up with some frozen peas, orrrr you can use Arborio rice, and cook it like a risotto.

I prefer the second method to the first one, since it creates a more "saucy" type of rice side dish, rather then the more dry rice that I mentioned above.

Choose which ever option you like, I'm just laying it out there for ya!

I love this meal so much, that I made my mom replace my birthday cake with a mountain of schnitzels. We even had the candles on top. . . . . . .

Now enough of this foolishness, and let's get to the important part - the recipe!

INGREDIENTS (serves 2, with some nice leftovers for dinner :) )

450g chicken breast
2 - 3 eggs
120g breadcrumbs, approx.
4 - 5 tablespoons of plain white flour
250g Arborio rice
800 ml chicken stock, approx. (or just use half of a stock cube, and mix with water)
1 medium onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
150g peas, either canned or frozen
2 tablespoons mayo
1 tablespoon sour cream
4-6 cornichons pickles, diced up into small cubes
100 ml frying oil of your choice, approx.
salt & pepper to taste

First, start out by cutting your chicken. Cut each piece in half (butterfly the chicken), and cover with some plastic wrap. Using a meat basher, or a heavy pan, bash the meat to create thiner and even schnitzels. Once you have that done, you can season the meat with a sprinkle of salt.

Prepare you breading station by pouring some flour into one container, whisked eggs into the next one, and breadcrumbs in the last.

Start by covering your meat in flour, and shaking off the excess before you drench into the egg. Coat with egg on both sides evenly, then transfer to the breadcrumbs.

Coat on both sides evenly.

I usually use one hand for the dry ingredients, and the other one for the egg.

Otherwise my fingers become the literal human schnitzel.

Once you breaded all of your meat, start out with the rice.

Sauté your onions and garlic over medium heat until translucent, making sure you've seasoned with salt and pepper. Add in your rice, give it a few moments on the heat, then follow up with a portion of your chicken stock.

Stir the rice continually until it absorbs all the stock, then add more, and repeat until it's

al dente. Add your peas 2 minutes before the rice is cooked, to warm them through.

If your peas are frozen, blanch them for 2-3 minutes before adding them into the rice.

When your rice is about halfway done (approx. 10 minutes in) heat up a frying pan with some oil on a medium heat. Wait for the oil to heat up, then fry the meat until golden brown on both sides. You'll want to keep an eye on these, turning and checking every 2 minutes or so for the colour to turn. If your heat is too high, they burn in a matter of seconds.

For the Tartar sauce, combine your mayo and sour cream in a bowl, and mix until they form an even mixture. Dice up some small cornichon pickles (the amount of pickles entirely depends on you) and add them to the mayo and sour cream.

Also add a little bit of that preserving liquid that you have from the pickles, to loosen the sauce up. Season with salt & pepper, and mix to combine.

Serve with a wedge of lemon for those who are courageous (some people would kill you if you did that to their schnitzel, since the crust gets pretty soggy, so ask in advance) and enjoy!