Readers of The Bitten Word cooked every recipe in the September 2013 Bon Appetit magazine. Here's their take on Skate Wing Schnitzel.
Tom: Delicious! Skate is tough to find in Omaha so I had to sub Flounder but it's all about the sauce really. We actually make similar dishes using white wine but the lemon juice and mustard turned up the flavor a notch.
Pat: Just about anything schnitzeled flies in my book and while skate wing isn't the first thing I would grab when left to my own devices, it's a great riff on the formula. It's not easy to find skate but my fish monger was able to order it and the fillets were absolute beauties, sweet, fresh and right on the money size-wise. The recipe works well as written although the flour, breadcrumbs and eggs should be put in pie plates instead of bowls -- skate wings are mighty long and don't fit in bowls. I suspect I would have been just as happy with panko as making fresh breadcrumbs. Also, it made more sense to me to season the flour instead of the breadcrumbs, my theory being that bread is already salted, flour is not. For the pan frying, I used a mix of olive and grape-seed oil and am not sure I wouldn't go 100% flavorless oil next time. The sauce is a delicious echo of the classic and time-honored preparation of skate with brown butter and capers. I love schnitzel plated with arugula and diced tomatoes, a perfect, fresh foil for the rich dish. I added it and was happy I did. One note to anyone making the recipe from BA's web site: the first ingredient, 6 cups of torn country-style bread, is not listed in the ingredients.
Michael: Skate Wing is not a common fish. I happened upon it at a fabulous Fish Market here in Portland Maine 3 months ago. I was wary I might find it again for this assignment, but lo and behold, there they were (I bought and froze extra!!). Please look for it if you can. It is amazing. It resembles in flavor and texture, scallops. Yet, it is a beautiful fillet size. In this recipe, the texture holds up well to a schnitzel technique. Ultimately, it was delicious. I followed the recipe verbatim (which I usually do not do), and it was great. My only suggestion would be to amp up the sauce...more lemon, more capers, and a little more of it. (The schnitzel sops up the sauce fairly quickly). Even if you can't find skate wing, try one of the alternates listed in the recipe.
Jyll: Now where I live in East Texas, skate wings are a hairdo sported by teenage girls at the roller rink, so I had little hope this fish would be available for my recipe. I had some beautiful red fish fillets gifted to me by a friend and I decided to use those after a “skate fish replacement” search on Google indicated this would be acceptable. The process was straightforward – three part breading station with a quick sauté in olive oil and a pan sauce once the fish was cooked. The single fresh herb I used was parsley, my favorite when it comes to lemony fish. For the pan sauce, I substituted creole mustard for Dijon mustard because it’s what I had in the fridge. I also eliminated the capers because frankly, I don’t love them. My guinea pig husband ranked this in his top five dinners I've ever made. The fish had a delicate crunch and the sauce combined richness and acid in the perfect balance. While this was a classic preparation for a schnitzel, the fish was a nice twist. I would certainly make it again.
Brandi: I never had skate wing before and I only knew of schnitzel from The Sound of Music's My Favorite Things song so this was definitely a fun challenge for me. This recipe was surprisingly easy and very tasty. The hardest part was finding skate wing fillets, but luckily on my 3rd try they had some at Eastern Market. The breading calls for 6 cups of torn country bread, but I used 3 cups and had plenty left over. The capers in the brown butter sauce really add a nice touch. I will definitely make this again. I invited friends over to partake in the experiment and they were very impressed and loved the skate wing schnitzel. I paired it with an arugula, beet and goat cheese salad and roasted tomato and caramelized onion farro.
Khandra: This was a fairly easy recipe to make and the skate wing was delicious and more succulent than I thought it would. It was a little hard to find though. I'm excited to try this again!
Susan: The dish was wonderful but the recipe was flawed. The list of ingredients did not mention breadcrumbs which might confuse an new cook. I used approximately 2 cups of fresh french bread crumbs which give the skate a panko-like crust. We ate every bite!
Katie: Do you know how hard it is to find skate wing in California? And it wasn't filleted, so it's a good thing my husband grew up in a butcher shop. This was very good, but the herbs in the crust were the best new discovery. The tarragon makes it. Now I need a recipe for skate wing bones!
Get the Skate Wing Schnitzel recipe at Bon Appétit
Head back to the Mains (Fish and Pizza) Index