Winfield Farm is pleased to announce that we’re now working with a new USDA butcher – Old Fashion Country Butcher in Santa Paula. Kent Short is a third-generation butcher extraordinaire – the genius who turned us onto Mangalitsa collar steaks and secreto. His most recent suggestion is a cut that he labels “top round steak.”

Thin-sliced from the culatello – the large upper muscle of the ham leg – this cut is extremely versatile, as well as flavorful. For our trial run, Kent sliced the ham steaks to about 1/2 inch thickness, then ran them through a tenderizer. Bruce also lightly pounded the meat before cooking, and the steaks came out very tender. He’s now thinking the steaks don’t need extra tenderizing – a light pounding will be sufficient.

Bruce made Mangalitsa pork schnitzel for our first taste-test, following a simple recipe:

Dust the steaks with lightly seasoned flour, dip in egg wash (some recipes also call for adding milk to the egg wash, but Bruce used straight beaten eggs). He then coated the steaks with Panko and fried them quickly in a hot pan on both sides until golden brown. Bruce fried the steaks in our Mangalitsa lard, rather than butter, to enhance the flavor.
(Mangalitsa lard is actually better than butter – high in oleic acid and low in saturated fat – it melts in your mouth!)

Some recipes call for seasoning the pan with a thyme sprig before adding the steaks, or you could add a pinch of thyme to the seasoned flour, as Bruce did.
Serve with lemon wedges – a must – a squeeze of lemon juice adds freshness and tang that completes the dish.
Garnishing the plate with a thyme sprig also is optional. Our taste-test was a rousing success! Delicious!!

This cut is also great for pork cutlets or chicken-fried steak.