Frikadellen (German Pan-Fried Meat Patties)

Method

1. 1Tear the day-old bread roll into pieces, put it in a bowl, and pour the milk over. Leave it for 10 minutes until completely soft, then squeeze out the excess milk with your hands and crumble it apart.
2. 2Finely dice the onion and soften it in a little of the butter over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Let it cool — hot onion starts cooking the egg and makes the mixture greasy.
3. 3Put the minced pork and beef in a large bowl with the squeezed bread, cooled onion, egg, mustard, marjoram, chopped parsley, paprika, salt, and pepper.
4. 4Mix with your hands until just combined and no longer streaky. Don't knead it — overworking makes the mixture springy and bouncy instead of tender. Fry a teaspoon of it to check the seasoning before shaping.
5. 5With wet hands, shape the mixture into 8 patties about 2 cm thick and flatten them properly. Frikadellen are flat, not round like Italian meatballs, so they cook through evenly in the pan.
6. 6Melt the rest of the butter in a wide pan over medium heat and fry the patties for 5 to 6 minutes per side. Keep the heat moderate: too hot and the outside burns before the middle is cooked, too low and they stew in their own juices.
7. 7Press one gently — the juices should run clear. Let them rest for a couple of minutes and serve hot with potatoes and gravy, or cold the next day in a bread roll with mustard.