Veal Cordon Bleu Viennese Style
For me the best way to cook a Cordon Bleu. I use the preparation method of the Wiener Schnitzel and have adapted the recipe for this a little. In principle, this is the only way to make a Wiener Schnitzel even more delicious and tasty.
Prepare the meat
Veal topside (without cap)
g (gram)
Cut two 1 cm (0.4 in) thick veal steaks across the grain of the meat with a butterfly cut. Place veal steak between two resistant foils (for example vacuum bags). Using a large meat mallet, plate with the flat side until it is uniformly about 3 mm (⅛ in) thin. When plating, make sure to work your way from the center out. It should result in as round a shape as possible. Leave the plated veal steaks between the sheets until further processing, so that the meat does not dry out and turns gray less quickly.
Prepare breading line
Austrian breadcrumbs
g (gram)
Use three containers that are larger in area than the Cordon Bleu. This makes everything easier. In the first container, put the pastry flour (coarse ground flour). In the second container, crack the eggs and whisk them a bit. There should still be some egg white visible. In the third container, add ⅔ of the bread crumbs and put ⅓ of the bread crumbs in a separate bowl. The amounts listed above will not be used up for the breading. The part you don't need can be reused. Sift the used breadcrumbs first before reusing them.
Topping the Cordon Bleu
Gruyère Swiss cheese (recent)
g (gram)
Vacherin Fribourgeois Swiss cheese
g (gram)
Pepper (freshly grounded)
pn (pinch)
Salt and pepper the side to be covered. Place the ham overlapping in the center so that when the Cordon Bleu is folded, the ham folds lengthwise in the center. All around, do not cover 2 cm (¾ in) of the veal steak. Finely slice the cheese and place it on one half of the ham slices. The ham helps, among other things, that during frying the cheese does not run out so quickly. With the help of the foil used when plating, fold the Cordon Bleu and press the edges. From now on, turn the Cordon Bleu over with the open side facing up and grab the open side when lifting it so that it does not fall apart.
Breading
Pepper (freshly grounded)
pn (pinch)
Salt and pepper one side of the Cordon Bleu first, then place it in the flour, seasoned side down, and salt and pepper the second side. Turn and make sure the entire Cordon Bleu is covered with flour. Allow excess flour to fall away and then place the Cordon Bleu in the beaten eggs. Turn and make sure there are no white flour spots left. Drain Cordon Bleu and place in bread crumbs. Then spoon the separate bread crumbs over the top of the Cordon Bleu. Do not press down the bread crumbs. Let sit briefly, then let the excess bread crumbs fall away and fry.
Frying
Clarified butter
g (gram)
Melt clarified butter in a Schnitzel pan (or large cooking pot) and heat to 170° C | 340° F. The amount of clarified butter ensures that the temperature remains as constant as possible during frying. In addition, the Cordon Bleu must be able to float in the clarified butter. As soon as the Cordon Bleu floats to the top, constantly pour the hot clarified butter over the top of the Cordon Bleu with a spoon (souffle). Souffling creates the typical large bubbles of breading. Unlike the Wiener Schnitzel, do not move the pan back and forth to souffle. Once the edges turn golden brown, carefully flip the Cordon Bleu open side up. Use tongs to gently and carefully when flipping. First, you still want cheese in the Cordon Bleu and second, it can be dangerous if a lot of cheese flows into the hot clarified butter at once. Turn off the heat now and continue to souffle the Cordon Bleu. When the cheese melts and runs out, the clarified butter starts to boil more violently, you can see and hear it. When this happens, don't keep frying for a long time, otherwise there will be no cheese left in the Cordon Bleu. Frying takes no more than about 1.5 to 2 minutes per side. Do not remove the finished Cordon Bleu from the pan with tongs, better lift it out from the bottom with a skimmer.