French-baked meat has long been a hit with recipes. This is a very delicious dish that will decorate any holiday table. And there are many cooking options. And although this dish is traditionally baked in the oven, some cooks cook meat in French in a frying pan, in the microwave and even in a slow cooker.
What is the best meat
According to the classic recipe for this dish, take young veal or tender beef. Although in Russian cuisine they prefer pork more often. There are also many recipes where French baked chicken is preferred.
What to choose? The thing, as they say, is your taste. With chicken, this dish will be more dietary and tender. If you take pork, then the calorie content will increase significantly. The main advice is that the pulp should be fresh, it is not recommended to use a frozen product, otherwise the meat may end up being dry.
We take only the pulp, the loin. There should be no bones in this dish. The meat must be cut into even slices about 1-2 centimeters thick and beaten thoroughly with a kitchen hammer. You can marinate it slightly - salt, add pepper, spices, spices, dry herbs and refrigerate for 20 minutes. At this time, you can cook the rest of the ingredients.
With juicy pineapples
So, let's learn the most elegant way: meat in French, recipe with pineapple. We will need:
- about 800 grams of meat;
- 300 grams of pineapple (fresh or canned);
- 200 grams of hard cheese;
- 2-3 medium onions;
- 100 grams of mayonnaise;
- spices, pepper, salt - to taste.
First, grease the baking sheet with vegetable oil and put onion on it, cut into rings. This onion base will add spice to the dish. Put the pickled pieces of meat on the onion. On top of each piece we lay out a pineapple ring. We will get very tender meat in French. A recipe with pineapples allows you to use both fresh fruit and canned preparations.
Sprinkle with pineapple cheese, grease with mayonnaise and send for 40 minutes in the oven.
How much to cook
As a rule, this dish is prepared for 40-50 minutes. What should be the temperature in the oven? The meat in French in almost all recipes is covered with cheese on top. And so that the cheese crust does not turn out too hard and does not burn, it is recommended to set the temperature to about 180 degrees.
If you make the fire bigger, then you run the risk of getting a burnt top coat. If you make the temperature lower, then the meat will not be baked, but stewed. It will take much more time, but a beautifully baked crust will not work. In this case, if you want to stain the meat, do not immediately sprinkle the dish with cheese. Add it 10 minutes before cooking and immediately make a big fire in the oven. Then the cheese will quickly melt and gild.
What else to add
There are quite a lot of tips on how to cook delicious meat in French. A pineapple recipe suggests that this dish can be combined with mushrooms, potatoes, canned corn and some vegetables.
If you want to get meat and a side dish in one dish, then, of course, potatoes will help you out. On a layer of meat you lay out a layer of raw potatoes cut into circles, on them - pineapples and then cheese. Cut potatoes into rings with a thickness of about 5 millimeters.
A great option for this dish would be to add fresh mushrooms. Can be used:
- Champignon;
- oyster mushrooms;
- White mushrooms;
- breasts;
- oily;
- honey mushrooms.
If there are no fresh mushrooms at hand, pickled and dried ones will do. Just do not forget to pre-soak dried mushrooms for three hours.
As a decoration for this dish, we recommend that you choose canned corn, green peas, olives or olives. They are already added to the finished dish in the form of decoration. The greens will also look beautiful.
You can fry
This dish does not necessarily require baking in the oven. You can cook meat in French in a pan. The operation algorithm is as follows:
- Fry the beaten piece of meat in vegetable oil on one side (about 10 minutes).
- Turn the meat over to the other side. We spread on it two tablespoons of mashed potato, which we previously prepared, on top of the pineapple and sprinkle with cheese.
- After the meat is fried on the other side for 10 minutes, cover the pan with a lid, turn off the heat and let it stand for about 15 minutes. During this time, the dish is well sweated, the cheese will finally melt, and the pineapple will give juice.
In this embodiment, it is convenient to cook if you make only a few portions that fit in one pan. In addition, you will get more fried meat in French. Cooking time will be significantly reduced. There is another undeniable plus in cooking meat in French in a pan. You can add not only pineapple, but also those products that are left in your refrigerator. For example, cover pieces of meat with chopped fresh tomatoes. Or even put cooked pasta on a meat substrate, and sprinkle cheese on top. If boiled rice remains in the refrigerator, it is also ideal as a top layer for this dish.
So let's not limit your imagination, go for it.
Some useful tips
To make the dish juicy, tender and beautiful, and when cooking it does not lose its useful qualities, you need to adhere to some simple rules.
- Do not use frozen meat for this recipe. Leave it for meatballs and meatballs. Take only fresh and not very old so that the dish does not turn out tough.
- Any cheese is suitable, but if you choose the one that has a beautiful yellow color, you will get a nice color scheme. By the way, cheese can not be laid out on the dish immediately, but add it 10 minutes before being cooked. Then it will not be overdried.
- Be sure to make the onion backing - this will be the very first layer of your dish. She will add spice to the meat.
- If you cook meat in French for guests, do not get carried away with spices. It is not known whether all guests will enjoy the spicy dish. Ground pepper and other seasonings are best served separately.
- To add mayonnaise to this dish or not is a matter of your personal taste. The meat will give enough juice and will not turn out dry. Mayonnaise will only add fat. So focus on your addictions.
- Serve the meat in French (recipe with pineapple) immediately after cooking, letting it stand for a while after the oven and rest (15-20 minutes). Any red dry wine or stronger drinks - brandy, vodka, whiskey - will perfectly suit this dish.