Aunt Rachel's City Chicken

This family favorite dish comes via Aunt Judy!  According to Bubba, Aunt Rachel found this recipe and often made it for family gatherings. Judy remember eating it at a family picnic so she decided to carry on the

tradition at this year's Family Reunion!

A little Wikipedia research enlightened us as to how this chicken-less dish acquired its name. Apparently, "Huhnstadt" dates back to the early 1700s when overcrowding and health concerns led to the banning of urban-raised chickens in Germany. What's a person to do? Substitute! The dish experienced a resurgence during the Great Depression, when pork was the cheapest available meat. Some cooks ground up the meat and used a mold to form a drumstick shape. In 2011 you're more likely to find a tofu version in your local Whole Foods, but that sounds blasphemous.

Ingredients
veal cubes
pork cubes
small wooden meat skewers
garlic powder
onion powder
salt and pepper
eggs
milk
lots of fresh parsley
cracker meal  (Judy uses finely-ground saltine crackers)
Parmesan Cheese
Romano Cheese
oil
lemon wedges

NOTE: Judy ordered city chicken from Giant Eagle -- veal and pork cubes. The meat cubes come nice and lean. Check your local supermarket to see if you can order the cubes pre-cut.

(Specific quantities that Judy used to make 95 sticks: 10 lbs – 5lbs each veal and pork, 1 ½ dozen eggs, fresh parsley, 2 boxes of crackers to grind into cracker meal. After frying, store in Tupperware. Use wax paper above and below meat sticks.)

Directions 

Skewer 2 pork cubes and 2 veal cubes on each stick, alternating the pork and veal. Twist and wrap sprigs of fresh parsley between the meat chunks. Sprinkle the meat sticks generously with garlic powder, onion powder, pepper to your taste, and not too much salt. You'll be putting lots of cheeses in the breading.

In bowl one, pour enough flour to dredge the meat sticks.

In bowl two, beat 2-3 eggs, depending on how many sticks you're making. Don't skimp on the egg mixture. Add a dash of milk Add lots of fresh chopped parsley.

In bowl three, combine the cracker meal with handfuls of Parmigiana and Romano cheeses.

Lightly dredge meat stick in flour. Dip the meat stick in egg mixture, then coat it in cracker meal mixture

FRY LIGHTLY. Don't fry too dark

Place fried city chicken on a rack on a cookie sheet. If you don't have a rack, use

crumbled aluminum foil. This works great.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Be sure your oven is hot before you start to bake the meat sticks. No cover. Check the sticks about halfway, and if the breading is soggy on the underside, turn them over to finish baking. Careful, don't over cook, but be sure the pork is cooked!

If you bread the sticks early in the day, put them in the frig, and the spices really get into the meat. Serve with lemon wedges. Yummmmmmy.

Cin dun!