Switzel Food

HOW TO MAKE TRADITIONAL SWITCHEL (HAYMAKER'S PUNCH)

Steps:

• Finely chop or grate your ginger and add it to your mason jar. I prefer to grate my ginger with a zester as it does a better job of releasing the juices. (I like this one because it also does a fantastic job with citrus zest and even after eight years of use it's still sharp, ask my fingers how I know!)
• Pour the lemon juice (and zest if used), apple cider vinegar, honey or maple syrup and water into your jar.
• Screw the lid down tightly and shake the dickens out of it. You want all of your honey dissolved and a little frothy tornado of ginger bits in there.
• Loosen your lid a little and let your jar sit out on the counter for 24-36 hours. This gives the naturally occurring yeast in the honey and ginger a chance to do a little fermenting and makes your switchel a bit fizzier.
• Strain your switchel through the strainer into a clean jar or Grolsch-style bottle.

HONEY-GINGER SWITCHEL

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Peel and chop or slice the gingerroot. When using organic ginger, there's no need to peel it; the peel has most of the root's nutrients. If you choose to leave the peel, be sure to scrub it thoroughly under running water.
• In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Add the ginger. Remove from heat and let steep for at least 10 minutes, or until completely cool.
• Pour the ginger water and ginger into a 1-quart jar along with the remaining water. Add the honey, apple cider vinegar, and the juice of half a lemon .
• Secure the lid, shake well, and store in the refrigerator overnight.
• Measure out about 1/2 to 1 cup of switchel to drink each day. Serve it cold or over ice, and enjoy.

SCHNITZEL

Steps:

• In a shallow bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper. In a separate shallow bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs using a fork.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. The oil should completely cover the bottom of the skillet. While the oil heats, dip cube steaks into the egg and milk, then dip into the flour mixture, and shake off the excess. Place in the hot skillet.
• Fry steaks on each side until golden brown, then reduce the heat to medium and cook until well done. Do not cover. Drizzle with lemon juice before serving.

CHICKEN SCHNITZEL

Steps:

• Beat eggs in a shallow bowl with garlic, parsley, salt and pepper.
• In a separate shallow bowl, combine breadcrumbs (I pulse the bread slices in the food processor to get nice fresh crumbs) and parmesan cheese.
• Dip each cutlet into egg mixture to coat completely, then dredge in breadcrumb mixture, patting it on to help it stick.
• For each 2 cutlets, heat 2 tbsp oil in a large non-stick skillet over med-high heat.
• Cook 2 cutlets at a time until golden brown and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side.
• Transfer the cooked chicken cutlets to an oven-proof platter or pan, and keep warm in the oven while cooking the remaining cutlets and making the sauce.
• Wipe the skillet clean with paper towels.
• Heat butter until melted and add wine.
• Heat 30 seconds and stir in broth and lemon juice.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Simmer 2 minutes.
• Pour broth mixture over cutlets and serve.
• Garnish with parsley and lemon slices.

SWITZEL

Steps:

• Mix the ingredients and chill.