Truffle Chip Crumbed Chicken Schnitzel

Method

1. Halve each chicken breast horizontally with a long knife, so you have four flat pieces.
2. Put each piece between two sheets of baking paper and beat it out with a rolling pin to an even 7mm to 8mm. Even matters more than thin, because a schnitzel with a fat end cooks unevenly under a crumb that browns fast.
3. Salt both sides of the chicken and leave it on a rack while you make the crumb. This is the only salt the dish gets.
4. Tip the chips into a large zip-lock bag, press the air out and roll a rolling pin over them, working from one end. Stop when the biggest pieces are about the size of rolled oats. One heavy-handed pass at the start is what turns a canister of chips into powder.
5. Tip the crushed chips into a shallow dish, add the panko and the pepper, and toss with your fingers until the two are evenly mixed. Do not add salt.
6. Put the flour in a second shallow dish. Whisk the eggs with the Dijon mustard in a third.
7. Coat each schnitzel in turn: flour first and shake off the excess, then egg and let it drain for a second or two, then into the crumb. Press the crumb on firmly with the flat of your hand and turn the piece over to press the other side. Chip pieces are broad and flat and will not cling on contact the way a fine breadcrumb does.
8. Lay the crumbed schnitzels on a rack and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
9. Heat the oil in a wide frying pan to a depth of about 1cm over medium heat. Drop in a pinch of crumb: it should sizzle steadily rather than fizz hard. A chip crumb takes colour in roughly half the time a plain crumb does, because the potato is already cooked and already golden, so medium heat is not caution, it is the correct setting.
10. Fry two schnitzels at a time for about 3 minutes on the first side and 2 to 3 minutes on the second, until deep gold. Turn once only.
11. Drain on a wire rack rather than paper towel. Paper traps steam under the schnitzel and softens the underside within a minute.
12. Dress the rocket with the olive oil and a squeeze of lemon, and serve with the remaining lemon wedges and the truffle pesto if you are using it.

Questions about crumbing with chips

Can you use crushed potato chips as a crumb?

Yes, as long as they are not the whole crumb. Crushed chips bring salt, fat and flavour that a dry breadcrumb cannot, but they are flat, greasy and prone to colouring early, so on their own they slide off and scorch. Cut them half and half by weight with panko and you keep the flavour and gain a coating that stays put. Crush to gravel, not to powder.

Do you still need egg wash with a chip crumb?

Yes, and the flour before it as well. The crumb is fattier than a plain one, which makes it less inclined to grip, so it needs the full three stages rather than fewer. Flour gives the wet chicken a dry surface, egg gives the crumb something to set into, and a teaspoon of Dijon in the egg thickens it slightly and helps. Skip the flour and the coating lifts off in sheets in the pan.

Why does truffle flavour disappear when you cook it?

Because most of what you are tasting is aroma, and aroma travels. Open a canister in one room and someone in the next room knows about it, which is the same mechanism working against you at the stove. Truffle oil added at the end sits on a hot surface with nothing holding it down, and a good deal of it has left the plate before anyone sits at the table. A seasoning bonded onto an already fried chip is carried in fat and starch instead, which is why the truffle goes into the crumb at the start here rather than over the top at the end.

What do you serve with a chip crumbed schnitzel?

Something sharp and green, and nothing starchy. The crumb is potato, so a side of potato makes for a heavy plate. Dressed rocket or watercress, lemon wedges, a spoon of mustard or a sharp pickle, and a tomato salad if it is warm. If you want to push the truffle further, a spoon of truffle and artichoke pesto beside the schnitzel does more than a drizzle of oil over it.

Half a canister feeds four people dinner and the other half goes back in the cupboard for the drinks tray. Both truffle canisters are $12.95, and the whole Hunter's Gourmet range sits on one page if you want to pick a second flavour while you are there. Orders placed before 12pm on a weekday are dispatched the same day from our Corio, VIC warehouse, tracked with Australia Post, and shipping is free Australia-wide on orders over $100.