The cuisine of the American Midwest draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas, and is influenced by regionally and locally grown foodstuffs and cultural diversity.
A hamburger, or simply a burger, is a dish consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis with condiments such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish or a "special sauce", often a variation of Thousand Island dressing, and are frequently placed on sesame seed buns. A hamburger patty topped with cheese is called a cheeseburger. Under some definitions, and in some cultures, a burger is considered a sandwich.
A beefsteak, often called just steak, is a flat cut of beef with parallel faces, usually cut perpendicular to the muscle fibers. In common restaurant service a single serving has a raw mass ranging from 120 to 600 grams. Beef steaks are usually grilled, pan-fried, or broiled. The more tender cuts from the loin and rib are cooked quickly, using dry heat, and served whole. Less tender cuts from the chuck or round are cooked with moist heat or are mechanically tenderized.
Chicken-fried steak, also known as country-fried steak, is an American Southern breaded cutlet dish consisting of a piece of beefsteak coated with seasoned flour and either deep-fried or pan-fried. It is associated with the Southern cuisine of the United States. It is breaded and fried with a technique similar to the more common fried chicken, hence "chicken-fried". When deep-fried, it is usually referred to as "chicken-fried steak". Pan-fried versions are typically referred to as "country-fried steak".
Schnitzel is a thin slice of meat. The meat is usually thinned by pounding with a meat tenderizer. Most commonly, the meat is breaded before frying. Breaded schnitzel is popular in many countries and is made using veal, pork, chicken, mutton, beef, or turkey. Schnitzel originated as wiener schnitzel and is very similar to other breaded meat dishes.
The milanesa is a variation of the Lombard veal Milanese, or the Austrian Wiener schnitzel, where generic types of breaded cutlet preparations are known as a milanesa.
A rissole is "a ball or flattened cake of chopped meat, fish, or vegetables mixed with herbs or spices, then coated in breadcrumbs and fried."
Cutlet refers to:
- a thin slice of meat from the leg or ribs of mutton, veal, pork, or chicken
- a dish made of such slice, often breaded
- a croquette or cutlet-shaped patty made of ground meat
- a kind of fish cut where the fish is sliced perpendicular to the spine, rather than parallel ; often synonymous with steak
- a prawn or shrimp with its head and outer shell removed, leaving only the flesh and tail
- a mash of vegetables fried with bread
Karađorđeva šnicla is a breaded cutlet dish named after the Serbian revolutionary Karađorđe. The dish consists of a rolled veal, pork, or chicken steak, stuffed with kaymak, which is then breaded and fried. It is served with tartar sauce and a slice of lemon on the side, and sometimes french fries or steamed vegetables. Created by Josip Broz Tito's chef Mića Stojanović in 1956 or 1957 as an improvisation of Chicken Kiev, it has become a regular staple in Serbian cuisine. Stojanović unsuccessfully tried to patent his original recipe, which has since been adapted to several variations.
Different areas of the world have local variations on the hot dog, in the type of meat used, the condiments added, and its means of preparation.
Pork tenderloin, also called pork fillet, pork steak or Gentleman's Cut, is a long, thin cut of pork.
A steak sandwich is a sandwich prepared with steak that has been broiled, fried, grilled, barbecued or seared using steel grates or gridirons, then served on bread or a roll. Steak sandwiches are sometimes served with toppings of cheese, onions, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, and in some instances fried eggs, coleslaw, and french fries.
A cordon bleu or schnitzel cordon bleu is a dish of meat wrapped around cheese, then breaded and pan-fried or deep-fried.
Wiener schnitzel, sometimes spelled Wienerschnitzel, is a type of schnitzel made of a thin, breaded, pan-fried veal cutlet served with ample quantities of sauce.
Breaded cutlet or braised cutlet is a dish made from coating a cutlet of meat with breading or batter and either frying or baking it.
