5 sheets phyllo dough
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat and add the bread crumbs.
3. Stir the apples into the bread crumbs and add the lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon. Remove from heat.
4. Lay a single sheet of phyllo on wax paper and lightly brush with butter. Lay another sheet on top and repeat until all of the dough has been used.
5. Spoon apple mixture into the bottom part of the phyllo about 1/4" from the edge.
6. Carefully roll up the phyllo dough around the filling.
7. Brush the remaining butter over the top of the roll and slice several times about 2" apart into the top.
8. Transfer to a baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Makes 4 servings

8 sheets phyllo dough
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon sage
2 teaspoons rosemary
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 small onion, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat and add the mushrooms, sage, rosemary and pepper, cooking until mushrooms have reduced by half.
3. Lay one sheet of the phyllo dough out and brush it lightly with butter. Lay a second sheet over top of it. Fold it over to form a rectangle.
4. Spoon 1/4 of the mushroom filling into the bottom 1/4 of the rectangle.
5. Fold the bottom edge over to form a triangle at the bottom, then continue to fold the triangle up to the top, using all of the dough.
6. Lightly brush with butter, transfer to a baking sheet and repeat with remaining filling and phyllo dough.
7. Place baking sheet in the oven and bake turnovers until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, sauté onions in remaining butter and spoon over top of the turnovers when they're done.

Makes 4 servings

4 six ounce veal cutlets, flattened with a mallet
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons butter

1. Season flour with salt and pepper.
2. Dip individual cutlets into egg, then flour mixture to form a batter. Repeat for desired thickness of batter.
3. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the cutlets, frying on both sides until crisp, about 3 minutes per side. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings

I read all about Wiener Schnitzel yesterday, so I decided to make it. I'm sure any wienerschnitzel purist would behead me for things I have done, but I thought it was good, in a plain sort of way. I didn't batter it enough to make it really crispy, but I did slice it very thinly! I also added lemon juice, which I hear is a bit of a controversial matter. It didn't make it soggy, so I think I'm OK. From what I can tell, wiener schnitzel is no different than breaded veal cutlets. I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. Unlike our Wieners, the (Central?) European wiener is nothing more than an escalope of meat. Wiener schnitzel is typically made with veal, but since I don't have any young calves walking around, I just made it with thinly sliced sirloin steak.

Being not in the mood for a heavy meal of meat and potatoes (which would be typical Austrian fare, from what I gather) I decided to make a Mushroom Turnover instead. Oh, irony; a mushroom turnover is hardly a light dish. This was delicious! I had extremely over-compensated for how much phyllo I would need to make it, thus ending up with a turnover half the size of my plate, but it was light and airy and the mushroom filling was rich with the earthy flavors of sage, rosemary and, well, mushrooms. On the side were a few simple boiled carrots, Roasted Onions and red pepper.

Trying to use up the remainder of the phyllo from the Spanakopita, I made 2 kinds of Strudel. The recipe is for apple strudel, but you could just as easily substitute pretty much any pie-type filling. I used strawberry-rhubarb filling (such as that in the Strawberry Rhubarb Pandowdy recipe) for the other strudel. Alright, so it's not the prettiest strudel out there as I'm far from a strudellini (that's like the Houdini of strudel, you see), but what really counts is how they tasted, and they tasted very good.